Brutus Self-researched

A marble bust of Marcus Junius Brutus, the only bust Michelangelo ever made. Commissioned after the assassination of Duke Alessandro de' Medici in 1537, it may represent a republican ideal—Brutus was celebrated in Florence as the slayer of the tyrant Julius Caesar.

The bust shows Brutus turning sharply to his left, with an intense expression and furrowed brow. The work was left unfinished, like many of Michelangelo's late sculptures, adding to its psychological intensity.