Statue of an Athlete
Unknown Artist
1–100 CE
Medium
marble
Dimensions
h. 173.9 cm · platform: 22.9 × 68.6 × 53.3 cm
Classification
Sculpture
Department
Greek and Roman Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust
Accession Number
1924.1046
About this artwork
This idealized athlete recalls Greek sculptural types invented and popularized during the 400s BC. Large-scale athletes and other sculptures like this were originally created by famous artists as sanctuary dedications. Centuries later, they were widely copied and adapted by Roman sculptors, whose clients sought their own versions of earlier masterpieces. Working in marble rather than bronze, these sculptors added certain elements for stability, such as the struts and the large tree trunk beside ...