Caestus
Charles Henry Niehaus American
Cast by Gorham Manufacturing Company American
The Munich-trained Niehaus modeled Caestus in Rome, combining the inspiration of ancient sculpture with his penchant for anatomical realism. The work depicts a rigidly posed athlete preparing for a fight by binding leather straps in a crisscross pattern around his forearms. This arrangement of straps, known as a caestus, was the ancient Roman equivalent of the modern day boxing glove. Lead or iron weights were often secured over the knuckles to increase the impact of the blows.
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