Statue of Meleager

Statue of Meleager

Statue of Meleager

Statue of Meleager

The work shows the young Meleager triumphant following the victory over the Calydonian boar. The beast had been sent to devastate the lands of Calidon by the goddess Artemis, offended by not having received a sacrifice in her honor during a harvest festival. Meleager’s father, Oeneus, had in fact offered a sacrifice to all the deities of Olympus, forgetting the goddess. The sculpture of the young man, coming from the Giustiniani Collection, has been restored in the form of Meleager through the union of several ancient parts. He holds a horn in his right hand, while with his left he frames the head of the wild boar, recovered from another ancient work.
Remarkable is the skillful realization in colored marble of the coat to recall the natural hair of the animal.

Inventory: MT 264

Material: White marble and bigio morato marble

Technique: Work sculpted through the use of: chisels (also square-tipped and toothed) rasps

Dating: Imperial age

Origin: Giustiniani Collection