Head of a Doriphoros (spear-bearer)
Type:
Sculpture
Year:
Late Hellenistic copy of a Greek original by Polyclitus (second half of the 5th century B.C.)
Material and technique:
Pentelic marble
Origin:
From Rome, Baths of Caracalla
Inventory:
Inv. MB 108
This magnificent copy, found at the Baths of Caracalla, derives from one of the best-known and most copied statues of the ancient world: the bronze Doriphoros created by Polyclitus, a native of Argos, between 450 and 440 B.C. According to tradition, Polyclitus exemplified in the Doriphoros his theories about the proportions and balance of the figure of the male athlete, which he discussed in a treatise titled Canon. The Barracco Museum’s copy, which accentuates the nuances and the emotional effect of the facial lines, can be dated to the late Hellenistic age.
