The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 18, 2024

Statuette of a Beggar

Statuette of a Beggar

100–50 BCE
bronze, solid cast, with silver and copper inlays
Overall: 18.4 x 5.3 x 7.2 cm (7 1/4 x 2 1/16 x 2 13/16 in.)
Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 1963.507
Location: 102C Greek

Description

This bronze reflects an exotic, urban setting, such as Alexandria, one of the most cosmopolitan of all classical cities and rich in cultural. It was the home of a great library and famous philosophers. Greeks, Jews, Egyptians, Africans, and Romans lived, studied, and traded there. The little goatee and curly sideburns mark this figure as a mature man rather than the child he at first seems to be. The black patina was purposely induced in antiquity by exposing the bronze to sulphide fumes. The color of the patina was heightened by inlays in contrasting silver and copper for the eyes and lips. Deformities—in this case, scoliosis of the spine—fascinated some Greek artists.
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 24 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 24 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 28 archive.org
    Kozloff, Arielle P., David Gordon Mitten, and Suzannah Fabing. The Gods Delight: The Human Figure in Classical Bronze. Cleveland, Ohio: Published by the Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1988.
    Published as: Black Banausos Mentioned and reproduced: P. 128-131, cat. no. 20
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991. Reproduced: p. 12 archive.org
    Berman, Lawrence M., and Kenneth J. Bohač. Catalogue of Egyptian Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999 Reproduced: p. 475; Mentioned: p. 475-6
    Stewart, Andrew F. Art in the Hellenistic World: An Introduction. Cambridge University Press, New York. 2014. Discussed and reproduced p. 236
  • Year in Review (1963). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 27, 1963-January 5, 1964).
    CMA, 25 November 1963-5 January 1964, Year in Review for 1963, cat.: CMA Bulletin 50, no. 10 (December 1963), no. 82, illus. p. 265; CMA/Los Angeles/Boston 1988-89, no. 20 (entry by Marion True)
  • {{cite web|title=Statuette of a Beggar|url=false|author=|year=100–50 BCE|access-date=18 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1963.507