Roman Ephebe from Naples

Like many other pieces found in Pompeii, it is a Roman work in Greek style; the youth is modeled after earlier, Greek sculptures of athletes. Created as an ancient lamp stand, theephebestill stands on his original base, consisting of a bronze disk and stone tripod.

, a long-term loan from the Mu搜索引擎优化 Archeologico Nazionale in Naples, is on view at the J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Villa.

At the time of the eruption of Vesuvius, theYouthwas being stored together with other bronze furnishings in a central room off the atrium. The house was in the process of being refurbished, and the sculpture had been covered with a protective cloth, traces of which are still visible on the figures shoulder and thigh. Theephebesurvived the volcanic cataclysm in an excellent state of preservation. Found with its right arm broken off and the candelabra detached, theYouthwas restored in the mid-1990s at the Centro di Restauro in Florencea treatment that revealed that the youths lips and nipples were crafted in copper.

Created about 20-10 B.C., the Roman bronze figure of aephebe, or youth, was excavated in 1925 in a well-appointed residence, now called the House of the Ephebenamed for this statueoff Pompeiis Via dellAbbondanza. Referred to as theEfebo Lampadoforo(Youth as a Lamp Bearer), the figure holds ornate tendrils that served as candelabrum branches.

Learn more about Pompeii from an exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Explore a work from Pompeii in the Getty Museums collection

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