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Roman Marble Torso of ThanatosAn ancient Roman marble torso of the god Thanatos. The youthful deity stands in a contraposto pose, his right arm rests upon his shoulder and holds the end of an inverted extinguished reed torch. Ca. 1st-3rd century AD. Thanatos was the Greek personification of death. It was he who came to lead mortals off to the underworld when the time allotted to them by the Fates had expired. The Romans often portrayed him as a boy, his head bowed, and holding an inverted torch, representing a life extinguished. Thanatos was a common motif on Roman sarcophagi but free standing sculptures of the god are much more rare. Thanatos was the son of Nyx, goddess of night, and was usually portrayed along with his twin brother Hypnos, god of sleep, whose main attribute was a wreath of opium poppies. Formerly in an American private collection, acquired form Charles D. Kelekian, New York, in 1970. Inv#: 4157 $65,000 |
