ROMAN STATUE

43

Material: BronzeColour: GreenishDimensions: Life-size or slightly over life-size:of fragment (overall): height: 5 cm (max); width: 7 cm (max); thickness: 1.5 mm - 1.5 cmof eye: height: 2.2 cm (upper eyelid included); width: 5 cm (upper eyelid included)of iris: diameter: 1 cmIdentification: Fragment of the right eye of a life-size or slightly over life-size bronze statue of a human figure.State of Preservation: The shape of the fragment is irregular and its edges rough and broken. The bronze epidermis bears obvious marks of corrosion and oxidation. A few colour deteriorations and sediments are sporadically visible on both the outer and inner surfaces. The iris and pupil of the eye are not preserved, while some parts of the eyelids are chipped away. The separately made eyelashes are also missing. The middle part of the eyeball below the missing iris is flattened. The general condition of the find though is satisfactory.Description / Iconography: Judging by the rendering of the baggy flesh above the upper eyelid, in all probability, it is a depiction of a mature human figure, the gender of which is difficult to determine.Technical Features: The iris, pupil and eyelashes were separately made of different materials and attached/inserted into the corresponding cavities/slots. No patches or recessions for patches are visible on the epidermis of the fragment which implies that the cast was successful in terms of technique.Casting Technique: The interior of the fragment is convex and its surface relatively smooth bearing no negative impressions of the external contours. In all probability, a combination of both techniques, the direct and the indirect, was used for its creation.Style: If the fragment originates from a bronze statue and since only a small part of this work is preserved, it is not certain whether we are dealing with an exclusively personalised/individualised portrait of an emperor (?) or an idealised work also bearing certain naturalistic/realistic features.Other remarks: The work must have suffered severe damage at some point in the past for unknown reasons to us. Judging by the general state of preservation of the fragment, as described above, the separately made iris and pupil must have been intentionally and violently detached from the corresponding cavity of the eyeball.Kosmas DafasKings College, LondonAugust 13, 2013These fragments relate to those recorded as YORYM-DE4D53and YORYM-5053ED which were subjected to pXRF Analysis by Matt Phelps of University College London through which it was determined that the zinc content is very low and does not seem to have been deliberately added (although they could well be recycled metals where repeated re-meltings have evaporated the zinc). The tin content is at 10% and a large amount of lead is included in the alloy at around 18% lead.Phelps surmises that this statue is stylistically Roman which matches the use of zinc which was a technology brought to Britain by the Romans.