Wax masks taken from the faces of dead Roman citizens sat on home altars for generations. These molds captured every wrinkle and scar directly from the deceased before they were cast in bronze or marble.
A standing figure known as A Roman Patrician with Busts of His Ancestors dates to around 30 B.C. It shows an old man with deep lines and a receding hairline alongside smaller busts of his forebears.
The Blacas Cameo depicts Emperor Augustus as a man of about thirty-five years old even when he was in his seventies. Imperial sculptors deliberately smoothed out wrinkles to present a timeless image of power and vitality.
Four identical figures stand together in the Portrait of the Four Tetrarchs without any individual features distinguishing them. These geometric forms replaced realistic faces to communicate unity among the four co-rulers who divided the empire.
Marble reliefs depicting married couples were most often commissioned by wealthy freedmen rather than patrician elites. These funerary portraits allowed newly rich families to display their social mobility and family values publicly.