Ancient Roman Marble Huge sculpture of the god of love Eros sleeping with his bow. 60 cm L.

Eros sleeping\t CULTURE: Roman Empire PERIOD: 1st - 2nd Century AD MATERIAL: White marble DIMENSIONS: Length 60 cm; 29,5 centimeters width and 19,6 cm maximum height. PROVENANCE: An English private collection, acquired by the vendor's parents, probably from a Country House sale in the 1940/50s. CONDITION: In a good general state of preservation. Not retsored. Original state. DESCRIPTION: Free-standing sculpture representing a nude Eros as a child, asleep on a rock with his wings folded behind his back. His right arm stretches over his body with his hand resting on a child’s bow. He is lying on his back, a tranquil expression on his face indicating trouble-free repose. His slightly tousled hair is short and curly. The only attribute of Eros here represented in his bow, the weapon he uses to shoot his gold and lead arrows. Eros was the god of romantic passion, which was able to seize both men and the gods. He was also related to fertility. Ancient Greek literature defines him as a primordial god who emerged from chaos, a powerful being, both cruel and capricious. The most widely circulate myth describes him as the son of Venus and Mars, as he unites both the force of love and violence. He starts to be represented as a child only in the Greek Hellenistic epoch. The classical poets were the principal architects of this change in his iconography. From then on, and also in the Roman period, Eros as a child was to be the most represented form he took in art. Roman representations of this iconography relate to the original Hellenistic model in bronze found in Rhodes, dating from between the 3rd and 2nd Century BC, and today conserved in the New York Metropolitan Museum. This piece represents a child asleep on a rock in a similar position to the one being described here. Over time other features have been added to the symbolic attributes of Eros, for example, the lion skin and the club of Hercules. Various authors indicate how, from the end of the Hellenistic period and in the Roman period, this iconography gathered strength through re-elaborations and multiple alterations. Many sculptures on this theme have survived, most of them the work of artists from the Imperial era. They were frequently made to adorn public areas or private villas, generally in gardens, but sometimes as water features. Some authors point out the evident relationship between this figure and other sleeping figures such as Hypnos, Hermaphroditus, nymphs and Silenus, also found as works of ornamental character that originally decorated fountains and peristyles. PARALLELS: -\t. Museo Arqueológico Nacional, Madrid. Eros asleep on the arms of Hercules, the piece originally from Elche. -\t. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Bronze Eros asleep on a rock. Inv. 43. 11. 4. Notes: The piece includes authenticity certificate. The piece includes Spanish Export License (Passport for European Union) - If the piece is destined outside the European Union a substitution of the export permit should be requested.