Victor Caulfield, a 79-year-old Australian man now based in Florence on a student visa, is looking for a home for his collection of portraits.

The paintings, all of him, include nudes and depictions of him posing as dozens of characters, from a pope to a beggar, ABC News reported.

They were created by young Italian life-drawing students for whom he sat for free.

"One of the reasons I'm so popular is I don't charge, I do it for fun," Mr Caulfield said.

"The other reason is, I'm an old man. Artists can get beautiful young men and women to sit but they don't get too many older people.”

The father-of-two is in Australia for double hip replacement surgery and said he was using his time to find a gallery willing to accept his portrait collection as a gift.