Fragment of a Reclining Male Figure (450–350 BCE): Art, History and Details

Fragment of a Reclining Male Figure (450–350 BCE) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This terracotta figure depicts a bearded man with his head tilted toward his left shoulder, suggesting that he is reclining. At Greek banquets, the attendees reclined while eating. Banquet imagery was very popular, including in the Greek colonies in Italy. This man likely originally had an elaborate headdress separately made and attached over the smooth part of the head. The clay on the figure’s right shoulder is probably the remains of “ribbons” attached to his headdress. There are traces of red pigment in the hair.

Object facts

• Title: Fragment of a Reclining Male Figure
• Date: 450–350 BCE
• Culture: Greek/South Italian, Taranto (ancient Taras)
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: terracotta
• Dimensions: Overall: 14.6 cm (5 3/4 in.)
• Collection: GR - Greek
• Department: Greek and Roman Art
• Accession number: 1951.538

A detail from the museum

Tarantine terracotta banqueters were made from molds, with additional handmade details.

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.