MALE FIGURE WITH CORNUCOPIA AND PLATE, FROM THE VILLA OF NUMISIA PROCULA, C. 150 CE. VATICAN MUSEUMS This idealised figure is painted in shades of red-brown against a white background. He's nude apart from two cloths wrapped around his forearms. The only other colour is green, which is used for sketched-in long leaves on the plate he holds in his right hand, more greenery emerging from the cornucopia he holds in his left hand, and a leafy crown around his head. His torso is beautifully modelled in light and shadow, his hands (always hard to paint) are convincing, and he stands with his weight on his right leg, or rather floats, as there is no ground. The artist has sketched him in outline first, and filled the figure in afterward. His form is based on a famous Greek statue, the Doryphoros or Spear-Bearer by Polykleitos. This fresco is a clear testimony of the taste for Greek art popularised by the emperor Hadrian.
This #FrescoFriday, the #VaticanMuseums is serving up naked young men in #fresco form. This one comes from the villa of Numisia #Procula at #TorMarancia along the via #Nomentana outside #Rome. She was the noble wife of an ex-consul, and the villa dates from about 150 CE. #AncientBluesky 🏺
