This face of an elderly man, from the basilica of Luni, is a prime example of the extraordinary combination of different forms and expressive registers which made up the Roman-era individual portrait. Here we have an attention to the signs of age – the wrinkles, the sagging skin of the cheeks – which is accentuated by the sharply-twisted neck, the frowning eyebrows and the intense gaze of one who clearly possesses an aptitude for command. The stark realism is made even more lifelike by the element of pathos – passion and grandeur – associated with portrayals of victorious generals from Alexander and his successors onwards. The exceptional quality of the piece, along with and the fact that it comes from one of the most important public buildings in the city of Luni, hint at a plausible identification with Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, the founder of the colony in 177 BCE. This would certainly have been a tribute offered by the city to an important figure in its history, remembered here – possibly in the early years of the Principate – by making use of an iconography that underlined his political virtues, moral steadfastness and military successes.