Detail View: The AMICA Library: Statuette of a Beggar

AMICA ID: 
CMA_.1963.507
AMICA Library Year: 
1998
Object Type: 
Sculpture
Creator Nationality: 
African; North African; Egyptian
Creator Dates/Places: 
Egypt
Creator Name-CRT: 
Egypt, Alexandria (?), Ptolemaic Dynasty, ca. 100-50 BC
Title: 
Statuette of a Beggar
Title Type: 
Primary
View: 
Full View
Creation Date: 
100-50 BC
Creation Start Date: 
-100
Creation End Date: 
-50
Materials and Techniques: 
bronze, solid cast, with silver and copper inlays
Dimensions: 
Overall: 18.4cm x 5.3cm x 7.2cm
AMICA Contributor: 
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Owner Location: 
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
ID Number: 
1963.507
Credit Line: 
Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund
Rights: 
Context: 
This bronze reflects an exotic, urban setting, such as Alexandria, one of the most cosmopolitan of all classical cities and culturally, one of the richest. 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 were fascinating subject matter for some artists.
Related Image Identifier Link: 
CMA_.1963.507.tif