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See the original at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York
Marble seated harp player
by Ancient Greek (Unknown), -2700
Details
- Year
- -2700
- Medium
- Marble
- Size
- H. with harp 11 1/2 in. (29.21 cm)
Ancient Greek This Cycladic marble figure dates to roughly 2800-2700 BCE, making it nearly 5,000 years old. It depicts a man seated in a high-backed chair, playing a large frame harp. The face is almost featureless: just a nose, brow ridge, large hollow ears, and slightly parted lips that suggest singing. It's one of the earliest known depictions of a musician in the history of art.
Thought to come from the Greek island of Naxos, it stands just 29.2 cm (11.5 inches) tall. Pigment analysis has revealed traces of paint on the back of the head, confirming that Cycladic sculptures (often assumed to be pure white) were originally colored. The simplified, almost abstract forms of Cycladic art strongly influenced 20th-century modernists like Brancusi, Modigliani, and Henry Moore.
It's on view in Gallery 151 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in the Robert and Renée Belfer Court for Early Greek Art.
