Marble Portrait Bust of a Young Man in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 2023

Marble Portrait Bust of a Young Man
Roman, Antonine period, 161-180 AD

On loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art from the collection of Leon Levy and Shelby White, accession # L.2007.8.12

This dazzling bust of a young man with a luxuriant head of curls and an expanse of a chest that evokes Classical bronze sculpture of the fifth century BC was created in Athens during the mid-second century AD to memorialize a beautiful youth by identifying his image with those of ancient Greek mythological heroes. In the Antonine period, elaborate coiffures, such as this one were fashionable among the jeunesse doree. The two portraits of the emperor Lucius Verus, on view to the left behind this figure, demonstrate the deeply drilled carving style that was developed in Rome to convey the light and dark effects within such curls. Greek sculptors sought a more plastic rendering; each lock on this head varies and ends with an individualized snail-like curl. Not only fashionable, the full head of hair, the sharp turn of the head, nude chest, casually draped cloak, and ribbon-like sword belt all evoked associations with images of the Homeric heroes and the glorious past of Classical Greece. The mid-second century AD was a period in which the Greeks attempted to bring new life to their ancient cultural traditions. The fusion of contemporary and heroic in this portrait bust has created an unforgettable masterpiece.

Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.