Cleveland Museum of Art

Dancing Dwarf

Date

100 BCE–100 CE

Medium

bronze

Culture

Italy(?), Roman

Department

Greek and Roman Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This small, bearded figure wears a twisted sash around his hips and has an exaggerated phallus. He stands with his left arm raised and his right arm on his waist. His left hand is missing but could have once held krotala (ancient clapper-like instruments), as other examples of dancing dwarves hold. People with dwarfism in art are typically rendered with a large head, widely spaced eyes, sharply raised eyebrows, and a depressed nasal bridge, all seen on this figure. This object may have been used as an apotropaic, or protective, amulet to ward off evil. People with dwarfism were favorite subjects in Hellenistic art, and then became popular in the Roman Empire.

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