Category:
Sculpture in the round, statues, human / gods and goddesses statues
Date:
Graeco-Roman Period, Roman Period (31 BCE-395 CE)
Provenance:
Lower Egypt, Kafr El-Shiekh (Borollos lake)
Material(s):
Rock, marble
This artifact was transferred to Kafr el-Sheikh Museum on 8 July 2020.
Description
Marble statue portraying a sleeping boy sitting on a rock. He is wearing a Roman tunic with a conical head cover. His sandals are finely carved. Comparing this statue with another similar one displayed in the National Museum of Rome where the boy is holding a lantern in his right hand, however the lantern here is missing. The statue was found in 1997 by a fisherman in El-Borlos Lake in Kafr el-Sheikh.
Portraits of Children
An interesting set of portraits consists of depictions of Roman children. Most existing portraits are funerary. Many portraits of infant boys appear to have a hairstyle resembling that of the Emperor Trajan (98-117 CE). Some portraits of young children resemble imperial features in the shape of the ears or in their hairstyles.
It is worth mentioning that children portraits of commoners did not appear until the beginning of the second century CE.
The information given here is subject to modification/update as a result of ongoing research.
References
- Zahi Hawass, ed., Bibliotheca Alexandrina: The Archaeology Museum (Cairo: The Supreme Council of Antiquities, 2002): 69, 71.
- Diana Kleiner, Roman Sculpture, Yale Publications in the History of Art (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1992).
- Mona Serry, ed., Bibliotheca Alexandrina: Antiquities Museum, introduction by Ismail Serageldin (Alexandria: Bibliotheca Alexandrina. Antiquities Museum, 2015): 76-77, 320.
- Susan Walker, Roman Art (London: British Museum Press, 1991).
- عزيزة سعيد محمود، النحت الروماني من البدايات الأولى وحتى نهاية القرن الرابع الميلادي (د.م.، [-199]).