Greek and Roman sculpture

A Roman marble statue may preserve the form of an earlier Greek work that has disappeared. Room 23 brings together sculptures made through different kinds of adaptation, from close versions of existing designs to freer changes. The Townley Venus and the Westmacott athlete are among the room’s highlights. Their names also carry part of their later history, when ancient sculptures entered European collections. Collectors valued these works, and restorers sometimes supplied missing parts or altered their appearance. Take a moment with the joins and broken edges as well as the pose. The statue before you has an ancient making history and a later history of excavation, ownership and repair. Greek and Roman figures seen together can reveal both the appeal of familiar models and the choices made by successive sculptors and collectors.