Vitellius (Aulus Vitellius Germanicus) was born in 24 CE and ruled for eight months during the dynastic crisis of the year 69, the end of his short reign coinciding with his violent demise. The year 69, known as the Year of the Four Emperors, saw the first civil war of the Roman Empire, during which four emperors ruled in succession after the violent death of Nero: Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian. It is considered an important interval, marking the transition from the Julio-Claudians, the first imperial dynasty, to the Flavian dynasty (founded by Vespasian). The period witnessed several rebellions and claimants, with shifting allegiances and widespread turmoil in Rome and the provinces, marking increasing tensions in the balance of power between Rome and the army legions stationed around the Empire, and in particular along its borders.

Vitellius was the son of a consul and governor of Syria under Tiberius. Vitellius was consul in 48 and then proconsul (governor) of Africa, in which capacity he is said to have acquitted himself with credit. He was elevated to command the army of Germania Inferior, where Vitellius made himself popular with his soldiers by outrageous prodigality and excessive good nature, followed by an inevitable slide in terms of order and discipline. This, perhaps, is the aspect of demeanour for which he is best remembered, being lazy, debauched and self-indulgent. However, his supporters Caecina and Valens guaranteed his elevation to Emperor when they refused to renew their vows of allegiance to Emperor Galba on the 1st of January 69, leading to his proclamation as emperor at Colonia Agrippinensis (Cologne).

Technically, he was only emperor of the armies of Germania Inferior and Superior, followed by the armies of Gaul, Brittania and Raetia. However, this essential usurpation of power was a serious problem for Rome, for as was ever the case he who controlled the Roman army controlled the world. Inevitably, this led to a debauch of spectacular proportions. He advanced to Rome with an enormous rabble of inebriated and rough soldiery, whose loyalty he rewarded with a series of gladiatorial combats and theatrical shows. In order to reward his victorious legionaries, he disbanded the Praetorian guard and installed his own men instead. This and other flamboyant behaviour led to civil unrest, and widespread administrative concern. There are indications that he intended to govern wisely, but he was powerless to escape the grip of Caecina and Valens, who exploited the fact that they had helped him to line their own pockets and thus obscured any genuine efforts he might have had to rule either wisely or temperately. His good intentions unrecognised, he was to discover the fickle nature of Roman administrative loyalties. The armies of the east proclaimed their own emperor Titus Flavius Vespasianus (Vespasian) in July of 69, bringing the revels in Rome to an abrupt end. Despite his efforts to resign, he was forced through political intrigue (primarily by a disgruntled Praetorian group) to return to the palace and await his grisly end at the hands of Vespasians troops. His body was thrown into the Tiber; his final words are said to have been: "Yet I was once your emperor, a tragically apt epitaph which is perhaps demonstrative of the crumbling Late Roman Empire".

This monumental sculpture is very evocative of the person and his time, showing a fleshy face, with bags under the eyes, closely-cropped military hairstyle, multi-double chins and a thick neck. The head is preserved down to the neck, with the top edge of the paludamentum, a cloak or cape fastened at one shoulder, worn by military commanders. As supreme commander of the whole Roman army, Roman emperors were often portrayed wearing it in their statues and on their coinage. After the reign of Augustus (and thus in the period of Vitellius), the paludamentum was restricted to the Emperor. The presence of the paludamentum allows therefore to identify this portrait as a representation of Vitellius during his short and tumultuous reign, rather than at a younger age during his military and political career.

Tacitus (III, 85) accounts how before he was murdered, Vitellius saw his own statues being toppled, indicating that an iconoclasm, an ostentatious destruction of the emperor’s image, occurred shortly before, and certainly also after, Vitellius’ death:

"Vitellius was forced at the point of the sword now to lift his face and offer it to his captors' insults, now to see his own statues falling".

It is unsurprising, due to this iconoclasm, that portraits of Vitellius are exceedingly rare. At least three examples are known: an earlier portrait of a younger Vitellius now at the Bardo Museum in Tunis, probably dating to his period as proconsular Governor in Africa; a mature portrait at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando; another mature portrait at the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, allegedly found near Piazza Colonna in Rome.