English: So-called "Archytas" bust. Found in the
Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum, and is now in the Museo Archeologico in Naples (inv. nr. 5607). The identification with
Archytas was derived from the comparison of this bust with the head on a coin, afterwards discovered to be false. The
Naples National Archaeological Museum currently identifies this bust as
Pythagoras, and says
[1] : "The bust, interpreted as Pythagoras, by virtue of the testimony of Aelian (
Varia Historia, xii, 32), that the philosopher was usually oriental dress and use a
taenia wrapped around the head, similar to the typical headgear still worn in the North Africa and the near and Middle East. ... In addition, strong similarities are found with some replicas in marble representing the philosopher, ... The bust, with rounded shapes and contours, can be considered stylistically a Roman copy from the end of the first century BC, of a Greek original, according to some of the early Hellenistic period, according to others the late Hellenistic period."