Hellenistic

Bronze statue of Eros sleeping, 3rd–2nd century B.C.E., bronze, 16 1/2 × 14 × 33 9/16″ / 41.9 × 35.6 × 85.2 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art). — Cupid, chubby and quietly sleeping, is a common symbol today … but what did this sculpture mean to ancient Greeks?

Bronze statue of Eros sleeping

Athanadoros, Hagesandros, and Polydoros of Rhodes, Laocoön and his Sons, early first century C.E., marble, 7'10 1/2" high (Vatican Museums) — The writhing agony of the Trojan Laocoon made this Hellenistic masterpiece famous throughout history.

Athanadoros, Hagesandros, and Polydoros of Rhodes, Laocoön ...

Alexander Mosaic, c. 100 B.C.E., tessera mosaic from the House of the Faun, Pompeii, 8 feet 11 inches x 16 feet 9 inches (this Roman floor mosaic may be based on a lost Hellenistic painting by Philoxenos of Eretria, The Battle of Issus, c. 315 B.C.E.), Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples. — Sources tell us that painting was the Greek’s finest art form: is this a hint at what we’re missing?

Alexander Mosaic from the House of the ...

Barberini Faun (detail) — Part man, part goat, this companion of the god of wine relaxes after a night of drinking.

Barberini Faun

Apollonius, Boxer at Rest, 1st century B.C.E. (may be a copy of a 4th century sculpture), bronze, Palazzo Massimo, Museo Nazionale Romano — Look closely to see bloody wounds and a lifetime of scars on this defeated athlete.

Apollonius, Boxer at Rest (or The Seated ...

The Pergamon Altar (detail) — Greek gods battle Giants for supremacy of the universe, so deeply carved that they almost step out into our world.

The Pergamon Altar

Nike (Winged Victory) of Samothrace, Lartos marble (ship) and Parian marble (figure), c. 190 B.C.E. 3.28 m high, Hellenistic Period (Musée du Louvre, Paris) — On the island of Samothrace, the wind whipped the clothing of this stone goddess of victory.

Nike (Winged Victory) of Samothrace

Dying Gaul, ancient Roman marble copy of a lost bronze Greek sculpture, c. 220 B.C.E., Hellenistic Period (Capitoline Museum) — Pain is visible on the face of this dying warrior. Did the ancient Greeks sympathize with their defeated enemies?

Dying Gaul and Ludovisi Gaul