On the Attis...

For the presence of oriental-style anaxyrides – characteristic lightweight clothing enwrapping also the legs and usually baring glutei and genitalia – the statue has been referred as the Phrygian youth Attis loved by the goddess Cybele. The cult of Attis and Cybele, although attested from as early as the sixth century B.C., was celebrated in Rome only at the end of the third century A.D.

The colossal size supposedly indicates it as a cult statue, even if this is evidenced only for Cybele as indicated by ancient sources (Pausania).

The statue was restored in 1712 by sculptor Francesco Franchi from Carrara, who most probably added the barbarian head. Luigi Lanzi described the statue in his 1782 Guide to the Uffizi Gallery as one of the sculptures decorating the new vestibule.