Marble Statue of an Old Fisherman in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Sept. 2007

Marble Statue of an Old Fisherman
Roman, Imperial period, 1st or 2nd century AD
Copy of a Greek statue of the late 3rd century BC

Accession # 19.192.15

The effects of hard work and age are powerfully rendered in this representation. A more complete replica in Rome preserves the head and a basket of fish on the left arm, indicating that the stooped figure must be a fisherman. Since his voluminous cloak seems ill-suited to work, he is probably headed for a festival, as is the statue of an aged woman carrying chickens and a basket of fruit, which stands nearby. During the Hellenistic period, genre statues of this type were dedicated in temples.

Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.