Roman Marble Cupid Holding a Bird

Roman, Imperial Period, ca. 1st to 2nd century CE. Finely carved from white marble, a wonderful sculpture of Cupid (Greek Eros) holding, or perhaps rough housing with, a bird clutched in his left arm against his chest. This iconographic theme emerged during the Hellenistic period when sculptors introduced several charming representations of children or Erotes with birds or their pets. A wonderful example that masterfully conveys the dynamic motion of Cupid, his cherubic body energetically twisting as he grasps the bird. Furthermore, the figures are very well modeled, and the proportions, the rounded forms of Cupid's body, as well as the bird's feathers are skillfully rendered. Size: 8" L x 10.75" W x 7.625" H (20.3 cm x 27.3 cm x 19.4 cm)

Sometimes the ancient artists captured a playful moment with the Cupid or child embracing the pet with such a high degree of enthusiasm that he appears to almost suffocate the animal. Sometimes the pet’s resistance manifested in a struggle. For example, Pliny the Elder mentioned a sculpture of a child struggling with a goose, the original by Boethos of Chalcedon, a Greek sculptor of the 2nd century BCE, in his Natural History (XXXIV, 84). The Boethos child became widely popular and was rendered several times by Roman sculptors. It also served as an inspirational source for multiple adaptations and variants of which the present piece is likely one.

The Boethos sculpture, known through the best copies displayed in the Capitoline Museum and the Munich Glyptothek, helps to reconstruct the composition of the fragmented Cupid. The child stands with his legs wide apart and the knees slightly bent; the body is thrown back and the head is turned toward the big bird trying to keep standing and away from the boy's embrace.

Such statuettes frequently populated the areas of recreation in a house or a villa; they have been found in the site of gardens or in fountain arrangements. They also served as dedications to the gods related to birth or health such as Aphrodite, Artemis, or Asklepios which is confirmed by the 3rd century BCE epigram of the poet Herodas (4. 30-31) who describes two women visiting the Asklepios sanctuary, watching and admiring the votive sculptures displayed in the precinct, the child with a goose among them.

To learn more about this subject: BIEBER M., The Sculpture of the Hellenistic Age, New York, 1967, p. 81, fig. 285. RIDGWAY B. S., Hellenistic Sculpture I, The Styles of ca. 331-200 B. C., Madison, Wisconsin, 1990, p. 232. SMITH R. R. R., Hellenistic Sculpture, New York, 1991, p.136, fig. 170. On the representations of Eros and a bird, see: Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC), vol. III, Zurich-Munchen, 1986, s.v. Eros, p. 871, nos. 205-219.

Provenance: ex-William Froelich collection, New York, USA, acquired in the 1970s

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#152886
Condition Report: Losses to Cupid's head, arms, feet, and the bird's head and body as shown. Nicks/abrasions to high pointed areas. Overall, an expressive and skillfully rendered form with deposits gracing the surface.