Naples Archaeology Museum: Busts and Statues

 This is a portrait bust of Vespasian, whose full name was Titus Flavius Vespasiuanus. He lived November 17, 9 AD until June 23, 79 AD. He was 69 when he died, was born in Falacrina and died in Rome. He had a wife (Domitilla the Elder), a mistress (Caenis), and three children (Titus, Domitian, and Domitilla the Younger). Vespasian was from a family of equestrians and ruled during the brief Flavian Dynasty which included his sons Titus (79-81 AD) and Domitian (81-96 AD).

 This is a bust of Julius Caesar, the Roman military and political leader who helped transform the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. Julius lived from July 13, 100 BC to March 15, 44 BC. He was 53 when he died, was born in Subura, Rome and died in Curia of Pompey, Rome.

 This is the very famous Farnese Hercules. Probably created in the third century AD by Glykon for the Baths of Caracalla in Rome (built in 216 AD), it was re-discovered there in 1546 and added to the collection of Alessandro Farnese, grandson of Pope Paul III.

 It remained as the only object in a room at the Palazzo Farnese in Rome until 1787 when it was moved to Napes.

 It was found in pieces, with the head recovered from a well in Trastevere and purchased separately from the Farnese collection. Replacement legs were created for the statue based on Michelangelo's recommendations, partly to show that artists from the era could do as well as the ancient artists. The original legs were later discovered in ongoing Baths of Caracalla excavations and were reunited with the statue in 1787. This statue has often been copied, and in fact this statue itself is an enlarged version of a statue made in the fourth century BC.