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Relief depicting a victorious athlete
Roman
Imperial Period
A.D. 117–38
Medium/Technique
Marble, probably from Aphrodisias or the island of Paros
Dimensions
Height: 79.5 cm (31 5/16 in.)
Credit Line
Centennial gift of Charles S. Lipson
Accession Number67.948
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsSculpture
Catalogue Raisonné
Sculpture in Stone (MFA), no. 278; Sculpture in Stone and Bronze (MFA), p. 113 (additional published references).
DescriptionThis piece is part of the Hellenistic Greek tradition of portrait busts of heroes o shieldlike roundels. The youthful athlete holds a palm branch decorated with two red ribbons in one hand. With the other hand he reaches up to touch the wreath on his head, perhaps crowning himself or calling attention to his crown. The figure may be a personification of competition.
This unusual presentation of the athletic human figure in a sculpture is an imago clypeata or shield used to display the head, shoulders, and, in this instance, much of the body of a heroized person. A young man of the Hadrianic period (A.D. 117 to 138), with a decidedly idealized face, holds a large palm in his left hand, the right having been raised to touch the wreath on his head. There are two ribbons, partly roughed out and partly in red paint, hanging from the palm on the upper background. The tenon at the bottom was for insertion into a rectangular base, and the area of similar shape in relief just below the tondo's inner rim may have had a metal plaque fixed over it, perhaps one bearing an inscription.
Condition: Save for the loss of the right hand and wrist, the carving is in relatively good condition, with only minor damages to the figure and the background. The surfaces have a light yellow patina.
The size and form of the palm might suggest the young man had been a charioteer, although nothing of his costume is shown. The youth is conceived in the tradition of the so-called Westmacott Athlete and other bronzes of the later years of Polykleitos, about 430 B.C.
Scientific Analysis:
Marble has been scientifically tested with Electron Microprobe and determined to be Calcitic.
Harvard Lab No. HI238: Isotope ratios - delta13C +1.43 / delta18O -3.90, Attribution - Aphrodisias 1, Paros 2, Usak, Ephesos 2, Heracleia, Mylasa, Naxos-Melanes, Justification - Coarse grained marble.
This unusual presentation of the athletic human figure in a sculpture is an imago clypeata or shield used to display the head, shoulders, and, in this instance, much of the body of a heroized person. A young man of the Hadrianic period (A.D. 117 to 138), with a decidedly idealized face, holds a large palm in his left hand, the right having been raised to touch the wreath on his head. There are two ribbons, partly roughed out and partly in red paint, hanging from the palm on the upper background. The tenon at the bottom was for insertion into a rectangular base, and the area of similar shape in relief just below the tondo's inner rim may have had a metal plaque fixed over it, perhaps one bearing an inscription.
Condition: Save for the loss of the right hand and wrist, the carving is in relatively good condition, with only minor damages to the figure and the background. The surfaces have a light yellow patina.
The size and form of the palm might suggest the young man had been a charioteer, although nothing of his costume is shown. The youth is conceived in the tradition of the so-called Westmacott Athlete and other bronzes of the later years of Polykleitos, about 430 B.C.
Scientific Analysis:
Marble has been scientifically tested with Electron Microprobe and determined to be Calcitic.
Harvard Lab No. HI238: Isotope ratios - delta13C +1.43 / delta18O -3.90, Attribution - Aphrodisias 1, Paros 2, Usak, Ephesos 2, Heracleia, Mylasa, Naxos-Melanes, Justification - Coarse grained marble.
ProvenanceSaid to come from the Tarsus area, perhaps Soloi-Pompeiopolis, Turkey. 1967, Robert E. Hecht, Jr., Zurich [see note]; 1967, sold by Hecht to Charles S. Lipson (dealer), Boston; gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles S. Lipson to MFA. (Accession Date: October 11, 1967)
NOTE: According to Charles Lipson at the time of the gift, he had purchased the relief in Zurich from Hecht. An old photograph of the sculpture is stamped on the back with the name of Dietrich Widmer, a Basel photographer.
NOTE: According to Charles Lipson at the time of the gift, he had purchased the relief in Zurich from Hecht. An old photograph of the sculpture is stamped on the back with the name of Dietrich Widmer, a Basel photographer.