This well preserved sculpture (only the forearms are lacking) portrays Antinoos, the youth from Bithynia whom Emperor Hadrian loved passionately until his premature death. Antinoos's long hair was crowned by a wreath, of which there are indications of a band with leaves of a different material. This work exemplifies the evolution of ancient portraiture. Its melancholy beauty, the graceful angle of the head and the high polish of the marble surface embody the spirit of the Roman Imperial age, when there was a tendency to revive ancient Greek ideals. This most moving portrait of Antinoos was placed in the Delphi sanctuary by decision of the Amphictyons (presidents of the Pythian games) and of Aristotimos the priest. Antinoos drowned in the Nile in 130 AD and was subsequently proclaimed a god by Hadrian, who had statues and busts of the beloved youth placed in various cities and sanctuaries of the Roman empire, and established his worship, which included rituals and games in his honour.