Marble statuette of a seated philosopher

Marble statuette of a seated philosopher

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Copy after a Greek statue of ca. 250 B.C. Said to be from Rome Seated torso with modern marble head based on bronze original in the British Museum. Several other small-scale copies of this type have been identified. The best preserved example is a bronze in the British Museum. Much of the intellectual intensity of the portrait is conveyed in the figure’s face. The body language—the crossed legs, the position of the left arm in the himation (cloak), and the forward-leaning pose— adds to the evocation of a man deep in thought. According to one interpretation, this work depicts the Stoic philosopher Kleanthes of Assos (331–232 B.C.), the foremost pupil of Zeno.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Marble statuette of a seated philosopherMarble statuette of a seated philosopherMarble statuette of a seated philosopherMarble statuette of a seated philosopherMarble statuette of a seated philosopher

The Museum's collection of Greek and Roman art comprises more than thirty thousand works ranging in date from the Neolithic period (ca. 4500 B.C.) to the time of the Roman emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity in A.D. 312. It includes the art of many cultures and is among the most comprehensive in North America. The geographic regions represented are Greece and Italy, but not as delimited by modern political frontiers: Greek colonies were established around the Mediterranean basin and on the shores of the Black Sea, and Cyprus became increasingly Hellenized. For Roman art, the geographical limits coincide with the expansion of the Roman Empire. The department also exhibits the art of prehistoric Greece (Helladic, Cycladic, and Minoan) and pre-Roman art of Italic peoples, notably the Etruscans.