BOY PLUCKING A THORN. ANTIQUE STATUE, IN BRONZE. THE attitude of this figure has given it the name by which it is vulgularly known. The elegance of the attitudes, the naïveté and simplicity of the action, place it on a rank with the best statues in bronze which have descended to us. The head and the hair are wrought with peculiar care; the eyes have been formerly incrusted: the sculptors of antiquity frequently adopted this method for the head in bronze, and frequently for those in marble. They frequently placed in a cavity, made by the artist, precious stones, or leaves of silver. We cannot pass over in silence the opinion of those who composed the notices of the antique statues contained in the Napoleon Museum. They imagine that this statue represents an athletic young man, the foremost in running; because, in the public games of Greece, children, even of tender age, contended with each other in such courses on foot, and in which the conquerors were frequently honoured with a statue. The nudity of this figure appears a sufficient motive to give probability to this assertion. This performance in bronze originally belonged to the Palais des Conservateurs to the capitol. It is not known where, and at what time, it was discovered. |