Statue of Meleager

Art Historical Context

Behold the **Statue of Mele**, a commanding Ancient Roman marble sculpture from the 1st-2nd century AD, now gracing the Arts of Greece, Rome, Byzantium department at the Art Institute of Chicago Standing an impressive 173 cm tall (nearly 5 feet 8 inches), this life-sized figure captures the heroic ideal of classical antiquity, carved from fine white marble that gleams with polished elegance. Meleager, the legendary Greek hunter celebrated in mythology for slaying the Calydonian Boar, Roman artistry's reverence for Hellenistic prototypes. Sculptors of this era excelled in transforming hard mar...

About the Artist

Ancient Roman

The artists attributed to "Ancient Roman" in museum collections represent the anonymous craftsmen who produced the vast output of sculpture, frescoes, mosaics, and reliefs defining Roman visual culture from the Republic (c. 509–27 BCE) to the late Empire (c. 395 CE). Individual identities remain elusive, as Roman makers were typically viewed as skilled tradesmen—often enslaved Greeks or provincial...