Statue of a boy

Particularly distinctive in this highly naturalistic statue of a child holding a hare, are the exaggerated movement of the body and the attempt to capture the expression on the infantile face. During the 4th c. BC Greek sculpture gradually moved away from the idealized models of early Classical art and turned towards realism, that is the portrayal of figures with individualized features and an attempt to convey the inner psychological state (ethos) of the subject. In fact, towards the end of the century - which marks the beginning of the Hellenistic period - a new trend developed for genre themes, i.e. images from private life in the city and the countryside. Such images aimed at showing man not at an exceptional moment or in death - as was the case in early Classical art - but in simple everyday situations. During the same period, sculptors showed special interest in representing the child, which had hitherto been only a complementary subject in Greek art.