Roman head from the second century, once mistakenly thought to be a portrait of the emperor Vitellius. Unearthed in 1505 on the Quirinale Hill, numerous copies of the Vitellius were made in the Renaissance, including busts now in the Prado and the Louvre. The style of portraiture is called “veristic,” in which fidelity to the subject’s true appearance reflected ideals of honesty and character, and even the affection of descendants for an ancestor’s physical traits.