Roman, Imperial Period, ca. first half of the 1st century CE. An impressive bronze applique of a lictor or magistrate's attendant draped in a tunic and standing contrapposto. The slender figure gazes left, holding a long fasces - an axe bound to a bundle of elm or birch rods and tied with a red belt that symbolized the magistrate's executive power- which he rests on his shoulder. His youthful visage displays heavy lidded eyes, a pointed nose, and petite lips, all crowned by a thick coiffure of slightly curved locks - a hairstyle worn by Augustus and his Julio-Claudian successors. A hefty mantle drapes over his tunic, affixed by a fibula on his right shoulder, and draping down his back. The hollow verso of this statuette indicates that it likely belonged to a larger historical relief depicting a ceremonial scene, perhaps on the breastplate of a bronze statue of a horse, where similar lictors are known to have been displayed. Size: 2.1" W x 4.5" H (5.3 cm x 11.4 cm); 5.6" H (14.2 cm) on included custom stand.

Cf. Art Institute of Chicago, 1980.809, British Museum, 1983,1229.1, and Staatliche Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Roemisches im Antikenmuseum, no. 45.

Published in Eisenberg, J. "Art of the Ancient World." Vol. XXIX, New York, 2018, no. 46; Vol. XXIII, 2013, no. 50; Vol. XIII, 2002, no. 50; Vol. XI, 2000, no. 46; Vol. VII, 1992, no. 112.

Provenance: ex-Royal Athena Galleries; ex-P. Donati collection, Lugano, Switzerland, April 1989

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#171563

Losses to axe blade of fasces, face, and proper right arm. Expected nicks and abrasions, commensurate with age. Otherwise, excellent with great patina and impressive remaining detail.