Georgian statue appears among world masterpieces in Italy

An ancient statue dating back to the Bronze Age but recently discovered in Georgia is being showcased for the first time alongside some of the most important masterpieces of the ancient world at an exhibition in Italy.

The sculpture is one of dozens being presented at the Italian exhibition, titled Power and Pathos. Bronze Sculpture of the Hellenistic World. The collection was described by organisers as "a host of outstanding examples of bronze sculpture” that tells the story of the "spectacular artistic developments of the Hellenstic era (4th to 1st centuries BC)”.

The Georgian sculpture, titled Torso of a youth, was discovered in Georgia’s ancient Vani region, in western Georgia in 1988. It measured 150cm tall and was described as a "well-proportioned” sculpture that recalled Greek sculptures that dated back to the 4th century BC.

Torso of Youth. Discovered in Georgia’s ancient Vani region, in 1988. Photo by National Museum of Georgia.

The statue is believed to be a Hellenistic work fashioned in an antiquated style to imitate the appearance of an early Classical statue. The presence of a 3rd and 2nd century BC casting pit outside Vani suggested it and other bronzes unearthed there were not imported but made locally.

The statue’s identity is uncertain but the combination of mature muscularity and adolescent sensuality would suit a depiction of Apollo.

Other pieces included in the exhibition are from many of the world's leading archaeological museums, including the British Museum in London, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Galleria degli Uffizi and the Museo Archeologico Nazionale in Florence, the Museo Archeologico Nazionale in Naples, the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, the Musée du Louvre in Paris, and the Vatican Museums.

Meanwhile after being presented at Palazzo Strozzi in Italy, the exhibition will be showcased at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles and the National Gallery of Art in Washington in 2016.

The statue is currently located in Georgia’s National Museum but will be returned to its original home at the Orat Lortkipanidze Vani Museum once reconstruction work at the museum was complete.