Torso of a Youth
1st-2nd century
Medium
Marble
Dimensions
66.2 × 38.7 × 24 cm (25 1/2 × 15 1/4 × 9 1/2 in.)
Classification
sculpture
Department
Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
28641
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Greek masterpieces were copied early and often. The statues of the 4th-century B.C. Athenian sculptor Praxiteles were especially influential. His male figures were usually languid, youthful, and sensuous. The standing figures bore the body’s weight on one taut leg. The other, bent at the knee, was relaxed. The side of the body with the lowered hip had a higher shoulder, resulting in a pronounced S curve. The muscular yet supple body and the opposing diagonal lines of the hips and shoulders of th...
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...