A Roman-era marble bust of the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle recently discovered beneath the Acropolis is the “best-preserved likeness ever found,” archaeologists maintained yesterday.

The 46-centimeter-high bust of the famous thinker, who had been a teacher to Alexander the Great, had probably adorned a villa belonging to a rich Roman in the area of Makriyianni, according to a senior archaeologist on the Acropolis excavations, Alcestis Horemi.

The bust, which dates to the first century AD, is the first to confirm contemporary descriptions of Aristotle’s hooked nose, Horemi said. Roman-era busts of Aristotle show the philosopher’s nose as straight or upturned, Horemi told Agence France-Presse. Recent Acropolis excavations have also unearthed busts of Emperor Hadrian and a priest from the Theater of Dionysus, also Roman-era creations.