Seated boxer (Terme Boxer or Boxer of the Quirinal)
Hellenistic Greek. c. 100 B.C.E. Bronze. Rome, Italy.
The sculpture shows both body and visage to convey personality and emotion. He is still wearing his caestus, a type of leather hand-wrap. It shows transformation of pain into bronze, a parallel of recent photos of our contemporary Olympic athletes after their strenuous competitions.
Form: Rare Hellenistic Bronze original greek sculpture Lost wax casting (hollow cast) Process by which duplicate metal sculpture is cast from an original sculpture Copper used to depict wounds on face and hands Seated posture Made in different sections that were then welded together
| Function: It has been suggested that the statue was attributed with healing powers Represents the cultural shift of the Hellenistic period Could have been a votive statue dedicated to a boxer Some have identified him as the Boxer of Quirnal Could be made to represent the culture of boxing in Ancient Greece
| Content: The humanity found in this work creates a sense of presence Muscular, powerful, and defeated His body serves a stark contrast to his hands and face Covering his head and face is bits of copper which posed next to the bronze resembles blood, covering his face and hands with wounds In contrast, his body is muscular and idealized, as typical ancient Greek art depicted men This shows a connection to the original Greek art which is combined with the new emphasis on humanity and expanding the focus of art. His posture By sitting with his torso collapsing inwards and his head down the look of defeat on his face is supplemented by this worn down posture Even though his face is down his gaze is upwards Sitting was not common is ancient Greek art so this was a deliberate attempt to convey humility and informality
| Context: It was created during the Hellenistic period (100BCE) Which was the last phase of ancient Greek art right after alexander the great and before the Romans took over During this time Greek art was expanded to include a variety of art Breaking away from the traditional idealized, heroic, male nude The seated boxer embodies the culture shift of the Hellenistic period Still holding onto the pre Hellenistic ideas his body is idealized with perfect muscle, but in contrast, his posture and face show humanity
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