- Museum number
- 1824,0427.1
- Description
-
Bronze head from the statue of an athlete wearing a close-fitting leather cap. The style to some extent reflects the influence of 4th Century Greek sculpture. The statue was probably erected to commemorate a victor in a wrestling contest, since wrestlers wore this type of cap to prevent their opponent from grasping their hair. There is also however the possibility that it represents a priest as priests wore similar caps.
- Production date
- 300BC-250BC
- Dimensions
-
Height: 33 centimetres (on mount)
-
Height: 21.50 centimetres
-
Weight: 6.50 kilograms (approx including mount)
-
Width: 17 centimetres
-
Depth: 19 centimetres
- Curator's comments
- Lahusen - Formigli (op. cit.) identify the bronze as portrait of a Salian priest and date it to the late Republican or Augustan period. The Salii were young men who performed ritual dances in honour of Mars and wore a leather skull cap (galerus) made of the hides of sacrificial animals, fastened with straps under the chin. Examples of the cap without a central spike (apex), as on this bronze, do exist.
G. Lahusen and E. Formigli, Römische Bildnisse aus Bronze: Kunst und Technik (Munich 2001), 37-39 no. 9.
M Engdahl, The Life of an 18th Century Collection: The Bronzes of Richard Payne Knight (unpublished MA thesis, UCL 2001), 31-34.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
2008 1 May-12 Jul, Shanghai, The Ancient Olympic Games
2008 2 Aug-31 Sep, Hong Kong, The Ancient Olympic Games
2013 Feb-May, Frankfurt, Stadtische Galerie Liebieghau, 'Back to Classic: Ancient Greece Reconsidered'
2017 13 Jul-15 Oct, Madrid, Caixa Forum, Ancient Greeks
2017-2018 23 Nov-18 Feb, Barcelona, Caixa Forum, Ancient Greeks
2018 20 Mar-24 Jun, Sevilla, Caixa Forum, Ancient Greeks
2018 24 Jul-4 Nov, Zaragoza, Caixa Forum, Ancient Greeks
2018-2019 18 Dec-31 Mar, Palma, Caixa Forum, Ancient Greeks
2021 19 Jun-7 Nov, Australia, Perth, Western Australian Museum, Ancient Greeks
2021-2022 16 Dec-1 May, Australia, Canberra, National Museum of Australia, Ancient Greeks
2022 10 Jun-06 Nov, New Zealand, Auckland, Auckland War Memorial Museum, Ancient Greeks
2022-2024 24 Dec-25 Feb, China, Suzhou, Suzhou Museum, Ancient Greeks
- Acquisition date
- 1824
- Department
- Greek and Roman
- Registration number
- 1824,0427.1
