PUGET, Pierre
(b. 1620, Marseille, d. 1694, Marseille)

Bust of Young August

before 1689
Marble, height 64,5 cm
Museo di Sant'Agostino, Genoa

The bust together with those of the Marcus Arelius, the Emperor August and a female bust was intended to decorate an aristocratic palace, reflecting the taste of the commissioners for antiquities. From the slight differences in the execution of the four busts an intervention of the assistants can be deduced (less in Marcus Aurelius than in the others).

Young August was executed in antique taste without any direct analogy. There is a strong relation to the representation of the young man in the famous relief Meeting of Pope Leo and Attila by Algardi.