Bronze Statuette of a Running Servant in the Getty Villa, June 2016

Title: Statuette of a Boy Running with a Tray of Food

Artist/Maker: Unknown

Culture: Italic

Place: Italy (Place created)

Date: 300–200 B.C.

Medium: Bronze

Object Number: 96.AB.131

Dimensions: 8.3 × 4.5 × 4.5 cm (3 1/4 × 1 3/4 × 1 3/4 in.)

Credit Line: Gift of Barbara and Lawrence Fleischman

Alternate Titles: Statuette of a Running Servant (Display Title)


The statuette depicts a young male servant running forward, carrying aloft a round tray of food. The missing object in his right hand may have been a skewer with pieces of meat. His right foot is missing. He wears a kilt-like garment seen on other Etruscan or Italic depictions of cooks and servers. This small figure may have once decorated a piece of household equipment, such as a stand for a lamp or utensils.

The statuette combines Etruscan and Italic stylistic features and was probably created in central Italy somewhere on the fringes of Etruscan culture. Certain features, including the proportions of the boy's head and his pudding-bowl haircut, recall Etruscan bronze work. However, the figure's lively pose and lack of surface details are not typically Etruscan and are more common in Italic works.


Text from: www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/29507/unknown-maker-statuette-of-a-boy-running-with-a-tray-of-food-italic-300-200-bc