The term 'janiform' derives from the Roman divinity Janus, the god of doors and openings, who is usually depicted with two faces back to back. Here, the smiling faces are diminutive forms of the rustic god Pan, one male (Paniskos), one female (Paniske). The Paniskos head has two goat-horns in his hair and wears a goat-skin. The hooves are visible at his shoulders. The long-haired Paniske wears a wreath of ivy and berries. The eyes of both faces would probably have been inlaid with precious stones and silver, traces of which remain. The bust is hollow, and its form suggests that it may have served as a decorative adornment to a balustrade. Bucolic elements, such as bronze sculptures of deer and goats, and mosaics and paintings of landscape idylls, are a feature of a number of Roman luxury villas, and this bust would be a suitably rustic adornment. Recent research has revealed that it is one of ten nearly identical examples [list?], all reputed to have been excavated at Torre del Greco, near Pompeii. It featured in the sale of the famous collection of the Neapolitan art-dealer and jeweler Alessandro Castellani (1822-1883). In 1933, it was acquired by William Randolph Hearst, who gave it to LACMA in 1951.

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• Mitten, David Gordon  and Suzannah F. Doeringer.  Master Bronzes from the Classical World. Cambridge, MA: Fogg Art Museum, 1967.
• Levkoff, Mary L., ed. Hearst the collector. Exh. Cat. New York: Abrams and Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2008.

• Blondet, José Luis. Six Scripts for Not I: Throwing Voices (1500 BCE-2020 CE). Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2020.