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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1962.63
Title
Nude Youth
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
statuette, sculpture
Date
first half 5th century BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe, Etruria
Period
Archaic period, Late, to Early Classical
Culture
Etruscan
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/304062

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Leaded bronze
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
8.8 x 4.1 x 2.8 cm (3 7/16 x 1 5/8 x 1 1/8 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Leaded Bronze:
Cu, 85.73; Sn, 8.35; Pb, 5.5; Zn, 0.013; Fe, 0.02; Ni, 0.03; Ag, 0.08; Sb, less than 0.02; As, 0.15; Bi, 0.116; Co, 0.013; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001
J. Riederer

Technical Observations: The patina forms a thin green, black, and cupritic red crust that has been removed in several areas, revealing a very porous metal that has oxidized to a dark brown. The figure is missing its proper left hand. The end of the left forearm is porous and notched on the back, perhaps to prepare it to receive a separately cast hand; this may be the original surface or a later repair. It is possible that the hand was a flawed cast due to the same porosity that is apparent on the torso where the top layer of corrosion has been removed. The smoothed concave surface cut out of the palm of the right hand may be evidence that it once held an offering that is now lost. The right hand is cracked as a result of having been bent backward. The metal was ground down to a shiny metallic surface on a section of the underside of the base. Two modern holes are drilled in the bottom of the base, and one of these still preserves a modern iron pin (2 mm diameter) that has been cut off.

The nude youth is a solid lost-wax cast in one piece with its flat base. The figure is unevenly modeled and finished. Its anatomical proportions are imperfect, and except for the hair and facial features, the surface definition is very poor. The muscles are cursorily defined, at most by a few facets. In contrast to this, the facial features seem crisp and were probably cut or enhanced at the metal stage. The same is true for the fine lines that delineate the hair. The fingers and toes are defined in the metal with short strokes.


Francesca G. Bewer (submitted 2002)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Marian H. Phinney, Cambridge, MA, (by 1962), bequest; to Fogg Art Museum, 1962.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Marian H. Phinney
Accession Year
1962
Object Number
1962.63
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
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Descriptions

Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums
Standing upright with his left leg forward on a small, irregularly shaped base, this nude male youth can be categorized in E. Richardson’s late Archaic kouros tradition (1). The youth’s proper right arm stretches upward, while the proper left forearm, raised and bent, is broken off at the wrist. Although there are heavy clusters of circular pitting on the front and back of the torso, the modeling of the torso muscles is still visible. The figure has a thorax with a stylized flattening arch, a backbone incised by a furrow, two transverse grooves across the linea alba, and a convex profile. The figure has square shoulders in proportion to its short neck, characteristic of late Archaic kouroi.

Late Archaic figures of offering bearers or worshippers can be distinguished from their early Archaic predecessors by their anatomy. The torso is no longer rounded or flattened but thicker and longer, blending into a convex ribcage. Other features of Etruscan kouroi from the late sixth century BCE include rendered clavicles, exaggerated trapeziums, pronounced iliac crests, and rounded skulls. Several late Archaic kouroi are cast with forearms held forward while carrying an object or performing a gesture (2). Kouroi similar to the Harvard piece are known from collections in Arezzo and Florence (3).

NOTES:

1. E. Richardson, Etruscan Votive Bronzes: Geometric, Orientalizing, Archaic (Mainz, 1983) 136-63. Richardson further separates the kouroi group into light-bodied “Peloponnesians” and heavy-bodied “Athenians,” which correlate to Greek bronzes of the Archaic period.

2. See examples from the late Archaic kouros series in ibid., figs. 312-13, 320-21, and 328A, pls. 87, 89, and 91.

3. For comparable types in the Museo Archeologico Mecenate, Arezzo, and the Museo Archeologico, Florence, see ibid., 142-44 and 150; Late Archaic Kouros Series A, Group 3A, no. 3; Group 3B, nos. 1 and 7; and Series B, Group 2, no. 1; figs. 312-15, 318-19, and 329; pls. 87-88 and 92.


Nicola Demonte

Subjects and Contexts

  • Ancient Bronzes

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu