According to Jiří Frel, this feature characterizes Caesar as a general rather than a ruler, unlike later busts. Like the Arles bust (which is also alleged to be a depiction of Caesar), the portrait includes a wrinkled neck, which could have been caused by years of campaigning in extreme weather conditions this feature has been omitted from other posthumous busts, but can be seen on at least one coin issued during Caesar's lifetime. The portrait also exhibits dolichocephaly, another type of cranial deformity which Caesar "may, or may not, have suffered" from, according to Mary Beard. The bust's head is prolonged, forming a saddle shape which could have been the result of a premature ossification of the sutures between the parietal bone and the temporal bone in Caesar's skull. The portrait's facial features are consistent with those found on coins struck shortly before Caesar's assassination, particularly on the denarii issued by Marcus Mettius. Made of fine-grained marble, the bust measures 33 cm (1ft 1in) in height. Being one of the copies of the bronze original, the bust has been dated to 50–40 BC and is housed in the permanent collection of the Museum of Antiquities in Turin, Italy.
It is also one of the two accepted portraits of Caesar (alongside the Chiaramonti Caesar) which were made before the beginning of the Roman Empire.
The Tusculum portrait, also called the Tusculum bust, is the only extant portrait of Julius Caesar which may have been made during his lifetime.
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