LOT 0105

Roman Life-Size Statue Section

1ST-3RD CENTURY AD

13 3/4" (2.6 kg, 35cm).

A very fine fragment of statue of a hero, athlete, god or emperor, formed as the lower part of the belly and pelvis; very fine modelling of the anatomy; the central part with the navel is still well preserved, as well as part of the right thigh and the genitals; a melting vent for the bronze fusion is visible at the height of the attachment of the right thigh; the upper and lower parts, at the upper part of the left thigh, are cut in a very regular way, with a saw edge, probably conceived for the assemblage of the missing parts; good green patina.

Property of a British gentleman; formerly in a private collection since the early 1970s; previously acquired on the London art market in 1970; accompanied by an expertise of Dr. Raffaele D’Amato.

See Cooley A.E., M.G.L. Cooley, Pompeii and Herculaneum, New York, 2014; Kleiner, F.S., A history of Roman art, Wadsworth, 2010; Poehler, E., Flohr, M., Cole K. Pompeii, art, industry and infrastructure, Oxford, 2011; the piece shows compositional similarities with the late second/early third century AD statue of Emperor Septimius Severus, preserved in the Cyprus Museum, Nicosia (Kleiner, 2010, p.234, fig.16.5).

Statues representing athletes, gods, emperors and heroes adorned public and private buildings in the Roman world. A good example is Pompeii where the amphitheatre was filled with statues within niches.