A modern marble herm-shaped bust of the Ionian poet Homer, after the Roman Antonine version found in Campania 1780, subsequently purchased by Townley (British Museum).

The hair descends in long curls at the front under a loose, knotted band. Both hair and beard are well defined and show deep drill marks. The face has high cheekbones and is furrowed by multiple wrinkles. The eyes are deep set and the mouth half-open, as if about to speak. The chest is bare.

Homer was a popular storyteller of the Greek Archaic period (7 BC–6 BC). The work attributed to him by ancient Greeks includes the epic tales of the 'Iliad' and the 'Odyssey', which describe events leading to the Trojan war and its aftermath. To Roman society, he was intimately linked to their foundation myth, descended as they believed they were, from Aeneas the refugee from Troy.