Media Information

 
 
 
Collection:
ADJUNCT MODULE C: WORLD ART
Preferred Title:
Head of an Aged Centaur
Image View:
Overall view from front
Creator:
unknown (Roman (ancient) sculptor)
Location:
repository: Museo Barracco (Rome, Lazio, Italy) Inv. MB 179
Location Note:
Corso Vittorio Emanuele, 166/A
GPS:
41.896111 12.477222
Date:
Greek original; 2nd century BCE (creation)
Cultural Context:
Roman (ancient)
Style Period:
Greco-Roman; Hellenistic
Work Type 1:
sculpture (visual work)
Classification:
Sculpture and Installations
Material:
Asiatic marble
Technique:
carving (processes)
Subjects:
mythology (Classical); centaurs
Description:
Roman copy of a Greek Hellenistic original; purchased in Rome. This head, with its tortured expression, derives from a statue of an elderly centaur who had a little cupid perched on his back. The original work, created in the 2nd century BCE, was an allegory of the pangs of love that torment old age, in contrast to the amorous joys of youth (symbolized by a laughing young centaur). The best copies of these works are the gray marble sculptures signed by Aristeas and Papias of Aphrodisia, discovered at Hadrian’s Villa near Tivoli, and now at the Capitoline Museums. (Source: Museo Barracco di Scultura Antica [website]; http://www.museobarr acco.it/en/)
Collection:
Archivision Adjunct Module C: World Art
Identifier:
7A2-I-R-MB-HOAC-A01
Rights:
© Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.

Head of an Aged Centaur