Portrait of a Roman Youth

A quiver to the boy’s right suggests that he is being identified with the god Apollo, who was often shown carrying a bow and arrows. Because in Roman Imperial times the deceased were sometimes sculpted as deities to indicate that they had become immortal, this boy’s sculpture was probably carved after his death for his family mausoleum.

The realistic rendering of the boy’s face is typically Roman, but the statue has many characteristics of fifth- and fourth-century B.C.E. Greek sculpture such as the shift of the boy’s weight and the idealized character of his entire body. The beauty and status-filled character of Classical Greek art always appealed to the Roman elite.