head of the so-called Pseudo-Seneca
head of the so-called Pseudo-Seneca
In 1930 in Siena a sculptural head was found, initially mistaken for Seneca. Several theories suggest that it represents Greek poets, such as Hesiod, and dates back to the 1st century A.D.
In 1930 in Siena a sculptural head was found, initially mistaken for Seneca. Several theories suggest that it represents Greek poets, such as Hesiod, and dates back to the 1st century A.D.
head of the so-called Pseudo-Seneca
The head was found by chance in 1930 in Siena, on Via Mascagni, during the construction of the Hygiene laboratory. The portrait depicts an elderly man, with an emaciated face, furrowed by deep wrinkles and covered by a light beard; the hair is arranged in disordered locks starting from the vortex at the nape. This type is known in the Roman world from a substantial number of replicas. The erroneous identification with Seneca, categorically disproved by the nineteenth-century discovery of an inscribed portrait of the philosopher, is attributable to Fulvio Orsini in Imagines et elogia virorum illustrium (1578). From the nineteenth century onward numerous proposals of identification have been made, mostly directed toward the major Greek poets (Musaeus, Thespis, Archilochus, Euripides, Theocritus, Homer, Aristophanes; Aesop). The emaciated and neglected appearance of the type has nevertheless led, even recently, to the quintessential peasant poet, Hesiod. While the question of the person represented remains open, the issue connected to the original on which the series of Roman copies depends appears more circumscribed: it should be regarded as a portrait created in the late 2nd century BC. The Sienese copy can be dated to the 1st century AD.
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The fresco by Priamo della Quercia located in the Pellegrinaio hall, in the fourth bay on the right, depicts the Blessed Agostino Novello presenting the Augustinian habit to the Rector. Among the figures, the emperor John VIII Palaiologos can be recognized.
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The fresco in the fifth bay on the right, located in the Pellegrinaio hall, depicts Eugene IV handing a parchment to Carlo d'Agnolino Bartoli. In the background, Eastern and African figures can be seen.