Newsletter: Winter 1993

The second sculpture is a balsamarium, a bronze container for scented oil. Balsamaria were frequently cast in the form of a head or bust, in this case the bust of a male hunchback. The lid, handle, and foot of the sculpture are missing, and at some time in antiquity it was filled with lead -visible in the top of the head - and used as a weight. Like the Greeks, the Romans were both fascinated and repulsed by physical deformity. Because hunchbacks were thought to have been touched by malevolent forces, they were conversely considered lucky and a protection against the Evil Eye. This hunchback is rendered with extraordinary realism, with deformation of both the chest and spine. The face, with a pointed nose, pendulous upper lip, and hollowed cheeks, is both bizarre and poignant. The sense of portrait-like individuality, of character unflinchingly expressed, is what distinguishes this Roman hunchback from the numerous, more generalized Greek representations.