Search the collections

Bronze statuette of an artisan with silver eyes

Fullscreen

Eros, God of Love

Eros, God of Love
(00:49:32) 842 views

Related Content

Statuette of a man

Statuette of a man

Bronze statuette of Apollo

Bronze statuette of Apollo

Statuette of a youth

Statuette of a youth

Bronze doe

Bronze doe

Statuette of a harp (lyre) player, male

Statuette of a harp (lyre) player, male

Browse current and upcoming exhibitions and events.

Exhibitions:

Events:

Events:

Bronze statuette of an artisan with silver eyes

Period:
Late Hellenistic
Date:
ca. mid-1st century B.C.
Culture:
Greek
Medium:
Bronze, silver
Dimensions:
H. 15 7/8 in. (40.3 cm)
Classification:
Bronzes
Credit Line:
Rogers Fund, 1972
Accession Number:
1972.11.1

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 164

  • Description

    This statuette is remarkable for its synthesis of Hellenistic immediacy and Classical composure. The figure can be identified as an artisan by his dress and muscular build. Particularly telling is the pair of wax tablets tucked in his belt—the equivalent of a note pad—on which he would have written or drawn with a pointed stylus. The portrait is imbued with great psychological power and may represent a famous, even mythological, figure. For example, he may portray the Homeric hero Epeios, who with Athena's help carved the Trojan horse. It has also been proposed that he is the legendary master craftsman Daidalos, who built the labyrinth at Knossos, or even the famous fifth century B.C. Athenian sculptor Phidias, creator of the chryselephantine cult statue of Zeus at Olympia and master craftsman of the sculptures of the Parthenon on the Athenian Akropolis.

  • Provenance

    Said to be from North Africa, possibly Cherchell, Algeria

    Before 1953, said to have been found in the sea off the North African coast, probably at Cherchell, Algeria; said to have been given as a present to J. Bousquet, Rodez (Aveyron), France; 1953, given as a present to Louis Édouard Balsan, Rodez (Aveyron), France; 1953-72, collection of Louis E. Balsan, Rodez (Aveyron), France; acquired in 1972, purchased from Louis E. Balsan.

  • References

    Boucher-Colozier, St. 1965. “Un bronze d’époque Alexandrine: Réalisme et Caricature,” Fondation Eugène Piot, Monuments at Mémoires 54: 25-38.

    MMA Notable Acquisitions 1965-1975, p. 117, ill.

    Himmelmann, N. 1981. “Realistic Art in Alexandria.” Proceedings of the British Academy 67: 205.

    Himmelmann, N. 1983. Alexandria und der Realismus in der griechischen Kunst. Tübingen: E. Wasmuth, pp. 76-85, pls. 56-58.

    Mertens, Joan R. 1985. "Greek Bronzes in the Metropolitan Museum of Art." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 43(2): no. 41, pp. 11, 60-61, 63.

    Kozloff, A.P. and D.G. Mitten, 1988. The Gods Delight. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art and Indiana University Press, no. 22, pp. 137-140.

  • See also
    What
    Where
    When
    In the Museum
    Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
    MetPublications
130015849

Close