Kunsthistorisches Museum exhibition reveals post-antique alterations to Roman marble busts

A special exhibition at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, part of a comprehensive research project, explores how Roman marble portraits were altered over centuries. The show opens with two previously unseen portraits of women, offering insights into current research on Roman portraiture. The museum's Collection of Greek and Roman Antiquities houses around 250 Roman marble portraits. The exhibition focuses on hairstyles as a key detail for dating and identifying subjects. Central to the research is the question of how to assess works that bear traces of post-antique modifications rather than their original state upon discovery.