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| Roman Empire Head of Demosthenes 2nd century AD marble Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Roman Empire Head of Antoninus Pius 2nd century AD marble Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
"Titus Antoninus Pius has been justly denominated a second Numa. The same love of religion, justice, and peace, was the distinguishing characteristic of both princes. But the situation of the latter opened a much larger field for the exercise of those virtues. Numa could only prevent a few neighbouring villages from plundering each other's harvests. Antoninus diffused order and tranquility over the greater part of the earth. His reign is marked by the rare advantage of furnishing very few materials for history; which is, indeed, little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind."
– Edward Gibbon, from chapter 3 of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776-89)
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| Greek Culture in South Italy Head of a Woman 3rd-2nd century BC (Hellenistic) terracotta Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Anonymous European sculptor Head of St John the Baptist ca. 1630-60 marble Victoria & Albert Museum |
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| Antonio Canova Helen of Troy ca. 1812-22 marble Victoria & Albert Museum |
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| Jacopo Ligozzi (designer) Portrait of Pope Clement VIII Aldobrandini 1600-1601 pietre dure (executed in Florence by Romolo di Francesco Ferrucci del Tadda) Getty Museum, Los Angeles |
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| Ippolito Buzio Portrait of Luisa Deti, mother of Pope Clement VIII Aldobrandini after 1604 marble Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Andrea Ferrucci Julius Caesar ca. 1512-14 marble Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Roman Empire Aureus with head of the Emperor Hadrian AD 134-138 gold Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
"We may readily believe, that the father of his country hesitated whether he ought to intrust the various and doubtful character of his kinsman Hadrian with sovereign power. In his last moments, the arts of the empress Plotina either fixed the irresolution of Trajan, or boldly supposed a fictitious adoption; the truth of which could not be safely disputed, and Hadrian was peaceably acknowledged as his lawful successor. Under his reign, as has been already mentioned, the empire flourished in peace and prosperity. He encouraged the arts, reformed the laws, asserted military discipline, and visited all his provinces in person. His vast and active genius was equally suited to the most enlarged views, and the minute details of civil policy. But the ruling passions of his soul were curiosity and vanity. As they prevailed, and as they were attracted by different objects, Hadrian was, by turns, an excellent prince, a ridiculous sophist, and a jealous tyrant. The general tenor of his conduct deserved praise for its equity and moderation. Yet in the first days of his reign, he put to death four consular senators, his personal enemies, and men who had been judged worthy of empire; and the tediousness of a painful illness rendered him, at last, peevish and cruel."
– Edward Gibbon, from chapter 3 of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776-89)
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| Gaston Lachaise Head of a Woman 1918, cast 1923 painted bronze Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Gaston Lachaise Head of Scofield Thayer 1923-24 bronze Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Gaston Lachaise Head of Antoinette Kraushaar 1923 marble Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Gaston Lachaise Head of Georgia O'Keeffe 1925-27 alabaster Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Cristoforo Solari St Catherine of Alexandria (treading on the head of a Roman Emperor) ca. 1514-24 marble Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
"The slightest force, when it is applied to assist and guide the natural descent of its object, operates with irresistible weight; and Jovian had the good fortune to embrace the religious opinions which were supported by the spirit of the times and the zeal and numbers of the most powerful sect. Under his reign, Christianity obtained an easy and lasting victory; and, as soon as the smile of royal patronage was withdrawn, the genius of Paganism, which had been fondly raised and cherished by the arts of Julian, sunk irrecoverably in the dust."
– Edward Gibbon, from chapter 25 of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776-89)