Not A Good Likeness, But Interesting Etching of Epicurus

Horace, Satire 2

Q. Horatius Flaccus (Horace), Satyrarum libri, book 1, Improbus, dum vitia quaedam declinant, in contraria incidere.

Q. Horatius Flaccus (Horace), The Works of Horace, book 1, Bad men, when they avoid certain vices, fall into their opposite extremes.

Quote

The tribes of female flute-players,1 quacks, vagrants, mimics, blackguards;2 all this set is sorrowful and dejected on account of the death of the singer Tigellius; for he was liberal [toward them]. On the other hand, this man, dreading to be called a spendthrift, will not give a poor friend [5] wherewithal to keep off cold and pinching hunger. If you ask him why he wickedly consumes the noble estate of his grandfather and father in tasteless gluttony, buying with borrowed money all sorts of dainties; he answers, [10] because he is unwilling to be reckoned sordid, or of a mean spirit: he is praised by some, condemned by others.

(audatur ab his, culpatur ab illis.)

So that Latin on the etching refers to Tigellius in Horace's writing and not to Epicurus, but the artist used it anyway. This demonstrates how easily lines can be taken out of context and how important it is to track down the source of quotations.

Quote from Cassius

it's not a good likeness,

At least it hews closer to the traditional bust than others I've seen. It strikes me as "Epicurus as a Renaissance scholar."