Getty Museum

Statue of an Athlete

Date

late 1st century A.D.

Medium

Marble

Culture

Roman

Department

Sculpture

Institution

Getty Museum

An over-life-size statue missing both arms just below the shoulder, as well as the lower parts of each leg. The remains of marble struts are preserved in the center of the chest and along the lower right ribs. The figure’s elongated body and soft facial features displays the proportions and style developed by the Greek sculptor Lysippos of Sikyon (active about 370–315 B.C.). According to Pliny the Elder, a Roman writer of the first century A.D., Lysippos made “the heads of his figures smaller… and the bodies slenderer and leaner, to give his statues the appearance of great height.” Lysippos was famous for his statues of athletes, and many Roman sculptures were carved in his manner. This fragmentary figure is in the pose of an athlete scraping oil from his back after a competition.

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