A ROMAN BRONZE ATHLETE

CIRCA LATE 1ST CENTURY B.C.-EARLY 1ST CENTURY A.D.

Details

A ROMAN BRONZE ATHLETE
CIRCA LATE 1ST CENTURY B.C.-EARLY 1ST CENTURY A.D.
Based on the "Diskophoros" by Polykleitos, the radiantly-beautiful muscular youth standing with his right arm lowered, the left arm separately made and now lost, his head turned slightly to his right and downward, his short hair a mass of tight curls, his articulated eyes seemingly inlaid in silver
6 1/8 in. (15.5 cm.) high

Provenance

with Herbert A. Cahn, Basel.
with Royal-Athena Galleries, New York, 1990.

Literature

C.C. Vermeule and J.M. Eisenberg, Catalogue of the Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Bronzes in the Collection of John Kluge, New York and Boston, 1992, no. 90-02.

Exhibited

From Olympus to the Underworld, Ancient Bronzes from the John W. Kluge Collection, Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, 26 March - 23 June 1996.

Lot Essay

For a recent discussion of the Diskophoros of Polykleitos see Bol, "Diskophoros" in Beck, Bol, and Bückling, Polyklet, Der Bildhauer der griechischen Klassik. For a more complete bronze statuette in the Louvre, likewise with silver inlaid eyes, but further enhanced with copper for the nipples and lips, see pl. 8.11 in Hallett, "Kopienkritik and the Works of Polykleitos" in Moon, ed., Polykleitos, The Doryphoros, and Tradition.

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