He has no head and no immediately identifiable characteristics. The Draped Male Figure stands relaxed, an arm folded across his belly, the other at his side. His Greek robes gently fall around his physique like those of a noble. Historians speculate if he may be a Roman emperor, possibly Marcus Aurelius, though he neither depicts a heroic male nude nor a military leader, like others of Roman emperors.

Whoever he may be, the 6-foot-4 Greco-Roman bronze statue has seen more than 1,800 years of history unfold and has drawn curiosity from art observers since the 1960s. Recently, his journey landed him in the Cleveland Museum of Art’s rotunda.

Before a New York City art dealer sold the statue to the CMA in 1986, the suspected Roman emperor toured museums in the United States. It entered the a

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