Marble portrait bust of a young man: a closer look
Closeup of the image that I previously posted.
This dazzling bust of a young man with a luxuriant head of curls and an expanse of chest that evokes Classical bronze sculpture of the fifth century BCE was created in Athens during the mid-second century CE to memorialize a beautiful youth by identifying his image with those of ancient Greek mythological heroes. In the Antonine period, elaborate coiffures such as this one were fashionable among the jeunesse dorée. The two portraits of the emperor Lucius Verus, on view near this figure at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, demonstrate the deeply drilled carving style that was developed in Rome to convey the light and dark effects within such curls. Greek sculptors sought a more plastic rendering; each lock on this head varies and ends with an individualized snail-like curl. Not only fashionable, the full head of hair, the sharp turn of the head, nude chest, casually draped cloak, and ribbon-like sword belt all evoked associations with images of the Homeric heroes and the glorious past of Classical Greece. The mid-second century CE was a period in which the Greeks attempted to bring new life to their ancient cultural traditions. The fusion of contemporary and heroic in this portrait bust has created an unforgettable masterpiece.
OK, so that's all the info that the Met provides on this loaned bust - problematically, it was loaned as a 'promised gift' by Leon Levy and Shelby White, ultra-wealthy donors who have had much of their collection confiscated by the NYC DA as looted artifacts. What's quite obvious from the reddish tinge of the marble is that this was almost certainly looted from the ancient city of Cyrene in Libya, the only place where *all* of the marble gets stained by in this way. A veiled head of a woman was recently confiscated from the Met by the New York DA and returned to Libya, and it was in the same style and had the same staining as this portrait bust.
Roman, Antonine period
ca. 161-180 CE
Met Museum (on loan: L.2007.8.12)
Marble portrait bust of a young man: a closer look
Closeup of the image that I previously posted.
This dazzling bust of a young man with a luxuriant head of curls and an expanse of chest that evokes Classical bronze sculpture of the fifth century BCE was created in Athens during the mid-second century CE to memorialize a beautiful youth by identifying his image with those of ancient Greek mythological heroes. In the Antonine period, elaborate coiffures such as this one were fashionable among the jeunesse dorée. The two portraits of the emperor Lucius Verus, on view near this figure at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, demonstrate the deeply drilled carving style that was developed in Rome to convey the light and dark effects within such curls. Greek sculptors sought a more plastic rendering; each lock on this head varies and ends with an individualized snail-like curl. Not only fashionable, the full head of hair, the sharp turn of the head, nude chest, casually draped cloak, and ribbon-like sword belt all evoked associations with images of the Homeric heroes and the glorious past of Classical Greece. The mid-second century CE was a period in which the Greeks attempted to bring new life to their ancient cultural traditions. The fusion of contemporary and heroic in this portrait bust has created an unforgettable masterpiece.
OK, so that's all the info that the Met provides on this loaned bust - problematically, it was loaned as a 'promised gift' by Leon Levy and Shelby White, ultra-wealthy donors who have had much of their collection confiscated by the NYC DA as looted artifacts. What's quite obvious from the reddish tinge of the marble is that this was almost certainly looted from the ancient city of Cyrene in Libya, the only place where *all* of the marble gets stained by in this way. A veiled head of a woman was recently confiscated from the Met by the New York DA and returned to Libya, and it was in the same style and had the same staining as this portrait bust.
Roman, Antonine period
ca. 161-180 CE
Met Museum (on loan: L.2007.8.12)