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Image Not Available for The Apoxymenos of Lysippus
The Apoxymenos of Lysippus
Image Not Available for The Apoxymenos of Lysippus

The Apoxymenos of Lysippus

Artist
Date399-375 BC
Mediumplaster cast on art gallery base
ClassificationsSculptures
DimensionsOverall: Height: 20.5 cm, Width: 67.7 cm, Depth: 123 cm
Plinth Size: Height: 91 cm, Width: 80.8 cm, Depth: 65.6 cm
AcquisitionPresented in 1905 by Mr Adam Maitland.
CopyrightOut of copyright
LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub
Object numberABDAG004786
Keywords
About MeThe statue is a roman copy of bluish-white marble, itself based on a bronze original by the Greek sculptor Lysippus. The marble version was found by Canina in Trastevere, Rome, in 1849 and is now in the Vatican Museum.

The figure is an athlete, who is depicted cleaning his body after exercise in the palaestra. It was the custom for athletes to anoint themselves with olive oil and sand before exercising, the oil to keep their muscles supple and the sand so that the oil would not prevent them gripping each other during wrestling bouts. The sand and oil were afterwards scraped off with an instrument called a stringil, which the figure holds in his left hand.