Lot Essay
Hermaphrodite was the offspring of Hermes and Aphrodite in which the opposing aspects of male and female were harmoniously combined.
Details
A LATE HELLENISTIC OR ROMAN MARBLE FIGURE OF HERMAPHRODITE
CIRCA 1ST CENTURY B.C.
The figure stands with its weight on the right leg, the left leg bent at the knee with the left heel raised, leaning to the left on a column that is partly obscured by the zig-zag folds of the mantle which drapes over the left arm and diagonally across the body revealing the genitalia, the left arm is bent at the elbow, the right arm extended forward in a gesture of pouring a libation from a (now missing) vessel, the downward gaze of the head observing the offering, the hair is center parted and tied in a fillet with a large knot in back--23½in. (59.69cm.) high
CIRCA 1ST CENTURY B.C.
The figure stands with its weight on the right leg, the left leg bent at the knee with the left heel raised, leaning to the left on a column that is partly obscured by the zig-zag folds of the mantle which drapes over the left arm and diagonally across the body revealing the genitalia, the left arm is bent at the elbow, the right arm extended forward in a gesture of pouring a libation from a (now missing) vessel, the downward gaze of the head observing the offering, the hair is center parted and tied in a fillet with a large knot in back--23½in. (59.69cm.) high
Provenance
Pierro Tozzi, New York. Said to be from Rhodes.
Literature
Bieber, The Sculpture of the Hellenistic Age, p. 125, fig. 492