The bust was discovered in Italy during the 16th century. In 1564 it was bequeathed to the city of Rome by Cardinal Rodolfo Pio da Carpi. Its identification as a representation of the ancient Roman statesman Lucius Junius Brutus was first formulated by antiquarians who excavated and examined it during the Renaissance, based on their readings of Roman history. However, there is no direct evidence that it was made to represent Brutus. The first drawing of the bust was made by the Dutch artist Maarten van Heemskerck sometime between 1532–36, although it was first described in writing in 1549. The bust was kept on the Capitoline Hill and from 1627 in the Palazzo dei Conservatori, until Pope Pius VI surrendered it to the French First Republic in 1797. It was then used in the triumphal procession of Napoleon Bonaparte in Paris in July 1798. It was finally returned to Rome and the Palazzo dei Conservatori in 1816, where it has stayed ever since.
Antiquarian speculation
Speculation that the bust was meant to portray Lucius Junius Brutus of antiquity began with the writings of the 16th-century Italian naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi. The Dutch 17th-century antiquary and editor of Lactantius Gallaeus Servatius alleged that a Roman coin minted during the consulship of Brutus bore similar facial features to the bust. The profile of the bust is similar to the profile on a coin, depicting Lucius Junius Brutus, minted by Marcus Junius Brutus following the assassination of Julius Caesar. The 18th-century German art historian Johann Joachim Winckelmann was not alone among his contemporaries in thinking the bust did not actually portray Brutus. The ItalianantiquarianEnnio Quirino Visconti expressed doubt that it truly represented Brutus and was keen to emphasize that the head and bust were not originally made together or for each other. This was an idea that was first suggested in the 17th century when some antiquarians mused that the head originally belonged to a larger bronze statue that once stood on the Capitoline Hill.
Modern scholarship
More recent scholars of the 20th century have been less concerned with whether or not it was an idealized portrait of Brutus and more preoccupied with the accurate dating and provenance of the bust. It has been identified as being Central Italian in origin with clear influence from Hellenistic-era Greek sculpture and portraiture of the first half of the 3rd century BC. It may come from a full-length statue. It may have honored a public figure during Rome's expansion in the 3rd century BC. However, it is possible it dates to "as late as the early first century BC when there was a vogue for creating lively imaginary 'portraits' of early Roman celebrities", which the "treatment of detail" suggests. of Marcus Junius Brutus minted in 54 BC.
