Bust of a man wearing a toga with thick folds

myminifactory

The folds were pressed by an artisan who was a slave specifically assigned to this task. The fashion likely originated in North Africa. Cook 2011, nr. 158: 'A bust resembling the medals of Gordianus Africanus, his father, is depicted wearing a Toga and adorned with the Latus Clavus; the hair is marked by points consistent with the style of sculpture at that time. It was discovered around 1770 near a location unknown along with a fine bust of Comodus, purchased by Cardinal Alex: Albani, and placed in his villa near Rome' (TY 12/3; B.F. Cook, 'The Townley Marbles in Westminster and Bloomsbury', The British Museum Yearbook, 2 (1977), 42-43, figs. 24-25, no. 28). Although Townley occasionally appears to identify this bust as Gordianus Africanus, he does so only in catalogue headings and lists with brief descriptions (TY 10/6-7, TY 12/6). In slightly more restricted spaces, he identifies the bust by how the Toga is worn, with the Latus Clavus (TY 12/5, TY 12/2), and in more extended contexts tends to refer to a resemblance to the coins of Gordianus (TY 12/22/61/1). Although Townley himself seems to have harbored doubts about the identification, it was accepted by Smith. More recent skepticism confirms Townley's perceptiveness. GR 1 (bust 4) gives the provenance as near Rome, but Lyde Browne's Catalogue (no. 1) specifies Roma Vecchia. Bought from Lyde Browne, likely in July 1775, for £60 (TY 10/5-7; TY 12/1; TY 10/3, fo. 13).