Getty Villa8032
Runner
Roman, first century BC-first century AD
Bronze, bone and stone
Found at the west end of the rectangular peristyle, A on Weber's plan, July 6, 1754
This and the adjacent sculpture have been interpreted as discus throwers, divers, or wrestlers, but they are more likely runners poised tensely at the start of a race. They lean forward and stare intently -- their eyes inlaid with bone for the whites and colored stone for the irises and pupils. The figures' location in the Villa dei Papiri's rectangular peristyle has reinforced the association of that space with a gymnasion, a Greek athletic area and location for social and intellectual pursuits, which wealthy Romans sometimes attempted to replicate in their villas.
Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples, 5626
Getty Villa8032
Runner
Roman, first century BC-first century AD
Bronze, bone and stone
Found at the west end of the rectangular peristyle, A on Weber's plan, July 6, 1754
This and the adjacent sculpture have been interpreted as discus throwers, divers, or wrestlers, but they are more likely runners poised tensely at the start of a race. They lean forward and stare intently -- their eyes inlaid with bone for the whites and colored stone for the irises and pupils. The figures' location in the Villa dei Papiri's rectangular peristyle has reinforced the association of that space with a gymnasion, a Greek athletic area and location for social and intellectual pursuits, which wealthy Romans sometimes attempted to replicate in their villas.
Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples, 5626