Wounded Youth in the Getty Villa, July 2008

Wounded Youth
Roman, 1-100 AD
Marble

Inventory # 72.AA.126

This statue represents a young man who has fallen to his knees, struggling to retrieve an arrow lodged in his back. The figure was probably part of a larger composition, perhaps a mythological battle scene. Warfare, integral to life in antiquity, was commonly shown in art. Depicting warriors provided artists with the perfect opportunity to render the ideal male body, often nude and in dynamic poses.

Text from the Getty Villa museum label.