This is a plaster cast of the famous statue of Augustus Caesar (called the Augustus of Prima Porta) which has often been copied..and the original is also in this Museum...however, unlike the original and most copies which are white, this one has been painted. A sign accompanying the statue indicates that research reveals that Roman statues were usually painted in bright colors. The artist of the original 1st century work is unknown. The original was found in 1863. Read more about the original at (
visit link)
Here, Augustus is depicted lifesized a colorful breastplate over a shirt with a long red robe draped over his right hip and left arm. His right arm is raised and seems to be pointing..or making a point in a speech while he holds a spear or scepter in his left hand.
Wikipedia (
visit link) informs us of the Emperor:
"Augustus (... 23 September 63 BC – 19 August 14 AD) was the founder of the Roman Empire and its first Emperor, ruling from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.
Born Gaius Octavius into an old and wealthy equestrian branch of the plebeian Octavii family, in 44 BC he was adopted posthumously by his maternal great-uncle Gaius Julius Caesar following Caesar's assassination. Together with Mark Antony and Marcus Lepidus, he formed the Second Triumvirate to defeat the assassins of Caesar. Following their victory at Phillipi, the Triumvirate divided the Roman Republic among themselves and ruled as military dictators.[note 3] The Triumvirate was eventually torn apart under the competing ambitions of its members: Lepidus was driven into exile and stripped of his position, and Antony committed suicide following his defeat at the Battle of Actium by Augustus in 31 BC.
After the demise of the Second Triumvirate, Augustus restored the outward facade of the free Republic, with governmental power vested in the Roman Senate, the executive magistrates, and the legislative assemblies. In reality, however, he retained his autocratic power over the Republic as a military dictator. By law, Augustus held a collection of powers granted to him for life by the Senate, including supreme military command, and those of tribune and censor. It took several years for Augustus to develop the framework within which a formally republican state could be led under his sole rule. He rejected monarchical titles, and instead called himself Princeps Civitatis ("First Citizen"). The resulting constitutional framework became known as the Principate, the first phase of the Roman Empire.
The reign of Augustus initiated an era of relative peace known as the Pax Romana (The Roman Peace). Despite continuous wars or imperial expansion on the Empire's frontiers and one year-long civil war over the imperial succession, the Roman world was largely free from large-scale conflict for more than two centuries. Augustus dramatically enlarged the Empire, annexing Egypt, Dalmatia, Pannonia, Noricum, and Raetia, expanded possessions in Africa, expanded into Germania, and completed the conquest of Hispania."