Aischines

Aischines Aischines is an Athenian political speaker who lived between 390 and 315 BC. His marble statue is a reduced copy of an ancient Roman marble statue (210 cm high) kept in Museo Nazionale in Naples and made during the reign of Emperor Augustus (30 BC – 14 AD) according to a Greek bronze sculpture from late 4th-century – the beginning of 3rd century BC. The statue in question was found in Herculaneum in 1779. It depicts a middle-aged man covered with a himation, standing with his right leg bent and pushed aside, his hands under his robe, the right resting on his chest, the left at the back below the waist. The face of the man, with a high, balding forehead, moustache and short beard, is thoughtful. This work, appealing in its simplicity, was highly appreciated until the end of the 18th century, and enjoyed its greatest popularity in the first half of the 19th century. Not much is known about the author of the sculpture kept in Łańcut, Carlo Monti. The artist made it in Naples probably in the first half of the 19th century. The statue has been in the collection of the Łańcut castle since 1948. It was taken over by the museum from the Museum Repository in Przeworsk established in the Lubomirski Palace, nationalised in 1944, and including the local art collection. The sculpture is now exhibited in the Sculpture Gallery. Barbara Trojnar