Bust, Torso del Gladiatore borghese - 100 cm - Plaster

Description
Refined 19th-century plaster bust, made as a life-size cast of the famous Borghese Gladiator, one of the most important sculptures of classical Greek art, today housed at the Louvre Museum in Paris.

The dimensions are 100 cm in height, 60 cm in width and 50 cm in depth.

The original is a Greek sculpture dating to circa the 1st century B.C., traditionally attributed, according to the inscription on the pedestal, to Agasias, son of Dositeus, a sculptor active within the great Hellenistic tradition. The work is universally appreciated for its exceptional anatomical rendering, the dynamic tension of the body, and the balance between strength and grace.

This bust faithfully reproduces the head and upper torso, recreating with great precision the volumes, expressiveness, and formal quality of the ancient model. The 19th-century casts of this type were destined for art academies, private collections, and the studios of sculptors, as study tools and as evidence of the neoclassical taste for antiquity.

Era
19th century

Material
Plaster

Dimensions
Life-size – 1:1 scale

Original model
Borghese Gladiator
Greek sculpture, circa 1st century B.C.
Attributed to Agasias, son of Dositeus
Conserved at the Musée du Louvre, Paris

Style
Neoclassical / Cast from an ancient original

Condition
Good, with normal signs of time consistent with the age and historical function of the work

Historical note
The Borghese Gladiator is considered one of the supreme examples of Greek sculpture depicting heroic subjects, symbolizing discipline, tension, and the classical human ideal. The 19th-century casts like this today represent autonomous historical testimonies, highly sought after by collectors, interior decorators, and scholars. Wooden crate packaging and insured for the object's value.