Essay 2

Today there are two known types of surviving pieces of Roman art. These include things in the general similarity of pottery and statues, and the other side is the very minimal amount of Roman paintings. The few items managed to survive from about the first century of BC until now. While it is also very rare to even find these pieces it is even more unlikely to find one unscathed by the wounding marks of time’s claws. The most common trademark of time’s unyielding aggression is the lack of a head on many, if not most, of the statues. It is brought more to light as the prime example from the statue called Marble statue of a draped seated man which was signed by Zeuxis. If the fact that the statue was even signed doesn’t come by as shocking than you’re in the wrong era because Roman art was very rarely signed by sculptures or painters for that matter.  

As was stated, Roman art is one of the oldest periods of time and it filled with many secrets and mysteries on who sculpted it, painted it, etc. But also on this particular case the common person would automatically ask who the man is that has been sculpted and what is their story? Unfortunately, because this time period is so old historians hardly ever come up with an answer. However based on the knowledge that one is given one can come to the conclusion that the statue has no head and is very warn down. Not only this, but it has a certain style that can be connected back to the Roman art characteristics. Also the uncommon thing that is found with this piece is that it was signed by the artist. Finally we also know that whatever that art piece was put through it somehow managed to make its way to New York and finds itself at the Metropolitan Museum.

By the power of sight one can see that this particular statue is made of marble and Pentelic. This gives it a yellowish orange tint to the solid block that is consequentially shaped and sculpted into a figure of a man. Through the skill of the artist on can tell the definite yet fluid carves in the block as it shapes out the drape over the man. Also through other skills the sculpture enables the viewer to see that the man is seated.  In total the length is measured to 51 ½ inches.  Lastly, due to the substantial amount of time the statue sits tall with no head, missing chunks of the arms and legs. It is evident that there were once limbs there because there are rough edges that clearly state that there is a missing piece there.

In closing the world is blown away every day by some phenomenon going on around the world. A lot of this stems from the creativeness of many art pieces that are constantly being discovered and the mysteries that are solved around them. Eventually historians get used to a time period and what to expect from them. However art experts were surely taken aback when they discovered that this piece had survived so long and even more so when it was found that this particular piece of art was signed. This only reiterates the saying of Expect the Unexpected.