figure
- Museum number
- 1907,1020.2
- Description
-
Bronze statuette of an athlete. The slim-bodied athlete scrapes a strigil upwards over his right thigh, with that leg slightly bent, the heel off the ground. He has stocky limbs and short hair ending in a row of curls that frame the upper face from ear to ear.
- Production date
- 475 BC-450 BC (circa)
- Dimensions
-
Height: 13 centimetres (with base)
-
Height: 11 centimetres (without base)
-
Weight: 202 grammes
-
Width: 5 centimetres (base/mount)
-
Width: 5 centimetres
-
Depth: 4.60 centimetres (base/mount)
-
Depth: 2.90 centimetres
- Curator's comments
- This is one of the earliest representations of a strigil, and of its use, in Etruscan art. The figure is perhaps from a bronze stand from which lamps or other objects could be suspended, but more probably from the top of a candelabrum as athletes were popular among the figures used to surmount these items of furniture.
[J. Swaddling in Bruschetti et al 2014, III.49]
- Location
- On display (G69/dc18)
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
2001 15 Jun-31 Oct, Barcelona, Bread, Oil and Wine
2008 1 May-12 Jul, Shanghai, The Ancient Olympic Games
2008 2 Aug-31 Sep, Hong Kong, The Ancient Olympic Games
2014 Mar 22 - 30 Sep, Museo dell'Accademia Etrusca e della Citta di Cortona, ' La Gran Bretagna e gli Etruschi '
- Condition
- Thick grey patina is flaked.
- Acquisition date
- 1907
- Department
- Greek and Roman
- Registration number
- 1907,1020.2
