Pair of eyes

Period:
Classical
Date:
5th century B.C. or later
Culture:
Greek
Medium:
Bronze, marble, frit, quartz, obsidian
Dimensions:
maximum H. 1 1/2 in. (3.8 cm) maximum length 2in. (5.1cm)
Classification:
Bronzes
Credit Line:
Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. Lewis B. Cullman Gift and Norbert Schimmel Bequest, 1991
Accession Number:
1991.11.3a, b
  • Description

    Bronze, marble, frit, quartz, and obsidian

    Greek and Roman statues were designed to give a colorful lifelike impression. Marble and wood sculptures were brightly painted, and bronze statues were originally a pale fleshlike brown. Lips and nipples were often inlaid with copper, and teeth with silver. Eyes were usually made separately and set into prepared sockets. This pair, designed for an over-lifesize statue, gives a sense of the potent immediacy that ancient sculpture could convey.

  • References

    Mertens, Joan R. 1991. "Recent Acquisitions: A Selection 1990-1991." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 49(2): p. 8.

    Haynes, D. 1992. The Technique of Greek Bronze Statuary. Mainz: Philipp von Zabern, pp. 106-107, plate 10.

    Hemingway, Seán. 2000. "Bronze Sculpture." In Making Classical Art: Process and Practice, edited by R. Ling. USA: Arcadia, p. 44, pl. 3.

    Hemingway, Seán. 2004. The Horse and Jockey from Artemision: A Bronze Equestrian Monument of the Hellenistic Period. Berkeley: University of Californian Press, p. 12, fig. 8.

    Picón, Carlos A., et al. 2007. Art of the Classical World in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, no. 141, pp. 127, 433.

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