Bronze hand of a boxer

Unknown

1st–2nd century CE · Bronze · Greek and Roman Art

The hand is clad in a caestus (boxing glove), comprising a semicylindrical strip and a projecting spike, tied with cords running from the wrist. Although Roman boxers are represented on statues, mosaics, terracotta plaques and lamps, and bronze figurines, few objects show the actual boxing glove with such clarity of detail as the present piece. The hand is probably not a fragment of a larger composition; it was, perhaps, a votive, dedicated by a boxer on his retirement.

Artist

Unknown

Date

1st–2nd century CE

Medium

Bronze

Culture

Roman

Department

Greek and Roman Art

Credit line

Gift of the Safani family, in honor of Edward Safani, 2001