Fragment of a wounded Amazon
Type:
Sculpture
Year:
Roman copy of a Greek original from the second half of the 5th century B.C.
Material and technique:
Pentelic marble
Origin:
From Rome, Baths of Caracalla
Inventory:
Inv. MB 103
Two fragments (MB 102 – MB 103) come from the same statue, and were found in the late 19th century at the Baths of Caracalla. Pliny the Elder recounts that around 435 B.C., the greatest sculptors of the day were summoned to compete for the commission to make a statue of an Amazon for the sanctuary of Artemis at Ephesus. According to Pliny, the winner was Polyclitus, for all the artists had ranked his name second to their own. It is hard to attribute the different types of Amazon sculptures to one or another artist (Phidias, Cresilas and Phradmon besides Polyclitus), but these fragments, from a Sciarra type Amazon, are generally attributed to Polyclitus.
