A Fragment of a Relief with a Youth (probably... Lot n° 48

Roman late 2nd cent. B.C.-1st cent. A.D.. Marble. H. max. 32.2 cm. W. max. 23.5 cm. D. max. 14 cm Fragment sculpted in low relief with a youth clothed in a chlamys facing left, his head slightly inclined. His curly hair is adorned with a fillet or a wreath. His muscular right arm is raised, the hand reaching behind his head. With his left hand he holds the reins of the horse depicted behind him. The pronounced nostrils and wide-open mouth of the horse's raised head are still preserved. Possibly the relief represented a mythological subject, maybe one of the labours of Herakles, for instance the stealing of the mares of Diomedes. In this case the raised right hand would have held the hero's signature cudgel. Part of a monumental sarcophagus or of an architectural fragment. Reverse roughly hewn. Traces of mortar on the front and back indicate its reuse as building material, possibly already in Antiquity. Formerly French art market, 2013. Starting price: 6000 CHF