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Gladiator in armor
Roman
Imperial Period
1st–3rd century A.D.
Medium/Technique
Bronze
Dimensions
Height: 6.7 cm (2 5/8 in.)
Credit Line
Classical Department Exchange Fund
Accession Number1982.323
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsSculpture
Catalogue Raisonné
Sculpture in Stone and Bronze (MFA), no. 129.
DescriptionApplique-plaque with a hollow back in a three-quarter view.
The figure is facing toward its left, with a rectangular shield on the left arm, a greave (shin-guard) on his left leg, and a sword in his right hand. His helmet, with neither a crest nor a visor, was designed to eliminate projections that might catch in the nets of a retiarius (net fighter). This helmet suggests that the figure represents either a provacotor, a secutor, or a contraretiarius (it is not known how these three classes of gladiators differed), all of whom were paired with retiarii in gladiatorial combat.
Classical Department Exchange Fund 1982.323.
The figure is facing toward its left, with a rectangular shield on the left arm, a greave (shin-guard) on his left leg, and a sword in his right hand. His helmet, with neither a crest nor a visor, was designed to eliminate projections that might catch in the nets of a retiarius (net fighter). This helmet suggests that the figure represents either a provacotor, a secutor, or a contraretiarius (it is not known how these three classes of gladiators differed), all of whom were paired with retiarii in gladiatorial combat.
Classical Department Exchange Fund 1982.323.
ProvenanceBy 1982: with Blumka Gallery, 949 Park Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10028 (said to have come from a New York collection formed in Germany during the Weimar Republic); purchased by MFA from Blumka Gallery, June 9, 1982