Efebo of Subiaco

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The Youth of Subiaco, also known as the Efebo Subliacense in Italian, is a stunning marble sculpture depicting a teenage male found in the Villa Sublaquensis, Nero's villa in Subiaco. The headless marble is a replica of a lost Greek bronze, evident from its unusual support resembling a tree trunk and the deformed silhouette, forced to fit within a single block of stone as noted by Rhys Carpenter. It is unlikely that this sculpture was created after Nero due to its discovery location. The original bronze's copying date is disputed. When first discovered, August Kalkmann estimated it to be from the beginning of the 5th century BC. However, prior to World War II, most believed it to be from the end of the 4th century BC, marking a shift towards Hellenistic style, which Rhys Carpenter opposed. Instead, he suggested a date between 60 and 70 in the 5th century. Brunilde Sismondo Ridgway, reevaluating Greek sculpture's history, placed it among the classicist works of the 1st century BC. The athlete is shown mid-stride, adhering to an archaic convention of racing. His left arm, now missing, once brushed against his right knee. His right arm extends upwards and forward. His right leg advances with one bent knee, while his left knee remains aloft, not touching the ground or supporting the weight of his violently twisted torso, likened by Carpenter to the lower half of Niobides stumbling. This male figure is portrayed as off-balance, poised on the verge of falling to the left, possibly due to a wound sustained during an attempt to flee. The sculpture was likely completed with the head raised and the right arm stretched forward while the left arm was positioned behind the body. The subject might be a Niobid, one of the fourteen children of Niobe whom Leto had Artemis and Apollo shoot dead with arrows. This marble is a copy of a Greek bronze original from the late Hellenistic period, dating to the Imperial era.