Musées de Langres – Maison des Lumières Denis Diderot – Musée d'Art et d'Histoire

This statue of what seems to be an emperor was discovered in Langres in 1660. Its marble may be of Greek provenance, but it is not clear where it was made. It was almost certainly commissioned for a public place. It was given to King Louis XIV as an ornament for the gardens of Versailles. Its head and arms were added by the sculptor François Girardon (1628–1715). It is one of the major pieces of Langres’ classical heritage, but only entered the museum’s collections in 1980, on loan from the Louvre.