The Wrestlers
5
| Artist | Massimiliano Soldani (b.1658, d.1740) |
|---|---|
| Title | The Wrestlers |
| Period | 17th century |
| Description | A crouching man finds balance with his left hand on the ground while his other arm is pulled back by a second figure that presses him to the ground with his full weight. The Wrestlers is a reduced version of the antique marble in the Uffizi, also known as The Two Wrestlers, the Lottatori, The Uffizi Wrestlers or The Pancrastinae. The original Greek 3rd century BCE bronze is lost but there is a Roman marble made after the Hellenistic original in the same period is considered to be the best quality Roman copy from a lost original. This copy is a characteristic and high quality work. The two young men are engaged in the sport called Pankration, a kind of wrestling similar to the present-day sport of "Mixed Martial Arts". The two figures are clutching one another, and one seems to have the upper hand, holding the other knelt down and twisting his arm back. Their muscular structure is very defined and exaggerated due to their physical and sustained effort. Two young men, trained to the highest degree in gymnastic exercise, are wrestling with their utmost skill and strength; and each form is so ingeniously entwined in the other that they seem to twist and bend simultaneously, and yet the two figures are everywhere distinct and separate. Though one is down and under, the contest is by no means decided, and a feeling of suspense takes possession of you as you watch the vigorous and struggling bodies. Gazing upon these squirming forms you half forget that they are chiselled out of stone, and you almost think yourself back to the days when such scenes as this were of daily occurrence in the Palaestra. |
| Material | bronze (metal)/copper alloy/nonferrous metal/metal/inorganic material/materials (substances) |
| Dimensions | height 36.8 cm W: 55m |
| Place Made | Europe; Southern Europe; Italy |
| Subject | genre scene; copied from antiquity |
| Collection | Art Collection; Torrie Collection |
| Classification | bronze; sculpture 1601-1700; sculpture |
| Accession Number | EU0647 |