Copy of a Greek bronze statue of the first half of the fourth century B.C.
Herodotos (ca. 484–424 B.C.) of Halikarnassos achieved fame in his lifetime for his Histories, which chronicle the Greek wars with Persia in the first quarter of the fifth century B.C. and the years surrounding those momentous events. His most brilliant and original accomplishment was his conception of a narrative that interweaves local traditions in a span of more than seventy years and encompasses much of the world known to the ancient Greeks through fact and fiction. Cicero called him the father of history. This work is one of numerous extant Roman copies that stem from a Greek statue, probably of the first half of the fourth century B.C. Portraits of Herodotos also appear on Roman bronze coins from Halikarnassos.
Said to be from Italy (Jucker and Willers 1982, p. 39)
By 1982, private collection, Switzerland; [1988, purchased by Acanthus Gallery, New York]; private collection, New York; 1993, exchanged for another work by a New York private colelctor and Acanthus Gallery; [1993, with Acanthus Gallery, New York]; acquired in 1993, purchased from Acanthus Gallery, New York.
Robinson, Edward. 1919. "A Bust of Herodotus." Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 14(8): pp. 171–73.
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1927. Handbook of the Classical Collection. pp. 272, 274, fig. 192, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1930. Handbook of the Classical Collection. pp. 272, 274, fig. 192, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1953. Handbook of the Greek Collection. pp. 91, 234, pl. 74a, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1954. Catalogue of Greek Sculptures. no. 103, pp.66–67, pl. 83, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Bol, Peter C. 2004. Die Geschichte der antiken Bildhauerkunst, Vol. 2. p. 388, pl. 357, Mainz: Verlag Philipp von Zabern.
Picón, Carlos A. 2007. Art of the Classical World in the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Greece, Cyprus, Etruria, Rome no. 256, pp. 219, 545–55, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
André-Salvini, Béatrice. 2008. Babylone no. 333, p. 396, Paris: Musée du Louvre.
Zanker, Paul. 2016. Roman Portraits: Sculptures in Stone and Bronze in the Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. no. 4, pp. 22–24, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
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