Loading...
In classical Antiquity the subjects of sculptures were identified by their attributes or gestures. In this case the figure’s pensive pose suggests that of one of the Muses, Polyhymnia or Clío, depicted in sarcophagus scenes as listening attentively to the god Apollo’s music. Based on late Hellenistic models, this figure was made in the Flavian period, possibly to decorate a library.
The body is a Roman copy of a Hellenic original from around 270 B.C.E. which may represent a philosopher of the Epicurean school. The head is a Baroque copy of the type known as pseudo-Seneca. It is mentioned for the first time in the collection of Christine of Sweden, where it already appears as a restored effigy of Seneca, and it does not seem to have been altered in any noticeable manner since
In the 17th century, a total of thirteen Egyptian Idols from various Roman collections entered Philip V´s collection at the San Ildefonso Palace. Ajello drew all of them for the catalog that was never published, and thanks to his drawings, we know the appearance of the eight that have not survived. These were probably looted and destroyed by Napoleonic troops. Philip V purchased twelve from the le
For many years considered a Roman work from the Hadrianic period, this marble is now known to be Italian and close in style to the work of Tullio Lombardo. It is notably similar to his figure of Adam executed for the funerary monument of the Vendramin family (1490-94), now in the Metropolitan Museum, New York.
