Hellenistic Prince

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The So-called Terme Ruler
The Hellenistic Prince
Seleucid prince Massimo Inv1049.jpg
Year2nd century BC
Medium Bronze statue
Location Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Rome, Italy

The Hellenistic Prince, Seleucid Prince, or Terme Ruler is a Greek bronze statue, 204 centimetres high, made in the 2nd century BC, now in the collections of the Palazzo Massimo alle Terme in Rome. It was found in 1885, together with the Boxer at Rest , on the Quirinal Hill, probably near the Baths of Constantine during the construction of the National Theatre. The two statues were however not part of an ensemble, being of different dates. There are significant debates on who is the person pictured, the original attribution to a Hellenistic prince being now rejected in favour of a Roman general—possibly Scipio Aemilianus, although there have been other suggestions.

Contents

Description

Experimental reconstruction of Boxer and Terme Ruler by Liebieghaus Polychromy Research Project, Liebieghaus 2021 Experimental color reconstruction of the two bronzes from the Quirinal hill in Rome.jpg
Experimental reconstruction of Boxer and Terme Ruler by Liebieghaus Polychromy Research Project, Liebieghaus 2021

The statue was cast using a lost wax process. The eyes were put in their sockets later, but are now lost.

It represents a naked young man with a light beard, reclining on a spear in an heroic pose, which is taken from Lysippos' Heracles . The first studies of the statue described it as an Hellenistic prince, Seleucid or Attalid (specifically Attalus II), but this attribution has been rejected. Since there is no consensus on the character's identity, the original name still stands.

Indeed, scholars now mostly think the man is actually a Roman general, portrayed by a Greek artist working in Rome. Opinions on the character pictured widely differ: Lehman thinks it is Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus; Balty and Croz recognise Titus Quinctius Flamininus; Papini suggests Gnaeus Manlius Vulso; finally, Coarelli and Etcheto favour Scipio Aemilianus, because the statue was found near the place where he had his villa. [1]

A reconstruction project executed by the Frankfurt Liebieghaus Polychromy Research Project [2] and headed by Vinzenz Brinkmann follows the interpretation of Phyllis L. Williams (1945) [3] and Rhys Carpenter (1945) [4] and identifies the statue as one of the Dioscures. [5]

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References

  1. Etcheto, Les Scipions, pp. 278-282, with a detailed historiograhical summary.
  2. https://youtube.com/watch?v=jHvemlFGMkA, The Quirinal Bronzes reconstruction project (Making of) on YouTube
  3. Phyllis L. Williams: Amykos and the Dioskouroi. In: American Journal of Archaeology. Vol. 49, Nr. 3, 1945, pp. 330–347, doi : 10.2307/499627
  4. Rhys Carpenter, The Identity of the Terme Ruler. In: American Journal of Archaeology. Vol. 49, Nr. 3, 1945, pp. 353–357.
  5. Vinzenz Brinkmann, Ulrike Koch-Brinkmann: Die sogenannten Quirinalsbronzen und der Faustkampf von Amykos mit dem Argonauten Polydeukes. Ein archäologisches Experiment. In: Vinzenz Brinkmann (ed.): Medeas Liebe und die Jagd nach dem Goldenen Vlies. Exhibition catalogue Liebieghaus Skulpturensammlung, Frankfurt 2018. Hirmer, Munich 2018, p. 80-97.

Bibliography