A ROMAN MARBLE TORSO OF A YOUTH

CIRCA 2ND CENTURY A.D.

Details

A ROMAN MARBLE TORSO OF A YOUTH
CIRCA 2ND CENTURY A.D.
Depicted nude, standing in contrapposto with his weight originally on his left leg, the right leg relaxed, his torso twisting with his right shoulder slightly forward, holding a cockerel in his left arm, his hand at the bird's left wing, its tail feather curving along the contours of the boy's hip, remnants of a strut along the boy's right thigh, a fragment of a support preserved along the back of his left thigh
24 in. (60.9 cm.) high

Provenance

Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 11 June 1997, lot 116.

Sale room notice

Please note additional provenance on this lot:
Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, London, 9-10 July 1992, lot 527.

Lot Essay

The subject of a youth or Eros holding a bird in his arms is well-known in Greek and Roman art, one that is imbued with sexual connotation. For a similar example see no. 13, p. 43 in Hoffmann, Ten Centuries that Shaped the West, Greek and Roman Art in Texas Collections.

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