Roman, Imperial Period, ca. 2nd to 3rd century CE. A cast bronze section of a right arm from a more than life-size statue of a man or god. Once again, this piece is oversized - suggesting that it came from a monumental statue - I am not going out on a limb here (no pun intended). Note the naturalistic rendering; the sculptor delineated the arm with a naturalistically bent elbow and palpable musculature with popping veins to imply flexing. Size: 20.5" W x 12.25" H (52.1 cm x 31.1 cm); 14.25" H (36.2 cm) on included custom stand. Dimensions of hollow within upper arm 5.25" W x 7" H (13.3 cm x 17.8 cm)
In the Classical World, bronze was the preferred material for dedicatory sculpture. Due to its high tensile strength, bronze enabled a sculptor to create figures with impressive poses. Stone, on the other hand, presented more limitations. Unfortunately, though many bronze sculptures were created during antiquity, most have vanished with far fewer surviving in comparison to their marble counterparts, as bronze sculptures were frequently melted down, so that the bronze could be reused. Because of this, surviving Roman bronzes like this example are very special.
In addition, life-size or monumental statues were built via the lost-wax casting method and sections were soldered together to create the figure. Due to this production method, when statues fell during battle or natural disasters, these joins were weak points. Hence we have more bronze fragments than intact statues today.
Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection; ex-Joe Gerena Fine Arts, New York, USA, acquired in 1995
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#145877
Condition
A fragment from a larger, oversized statue. Encrusted interior walls, coated with pebbles. A gorgeous green patina has developed over the ages.