Unknown Maker, Roman

From the 5th century BCE, giants appeared often in all the arts, particularly in sculpture. This sculpture echoes an architectural example from ancient Corinth in size, pose, and rosette ornament, suggesting a similar identification: that of a giant in battle. The engraved hair rosette on the chest of this torso has been found on sculptural examples of centaurs, giants, and satyrs. According to legend, giants attempted to overturn the rule of the gods in an early and mighty struggle. This torso was meant to be seen from all sides and may have been part of a battle scene in the round.

The engraved hair rosette on the chest of this torso reveals its semihuman status, for similar features have been found on sculptural examples of centaurs, giants, and satyrs. An architectural example from a frieze in Corinth matches the RISD figure in size, pose, and rosette ornament, suggesting a similar identification: that of a giant in battle. The most common battle legend about the mythical giants regarded their attempt to overturn the rule of the gods in an early and mighty struggle. From the fifth century BC, battles involving giants (gigantomachies) appeared often in the arts, especially in sculpture. The Providence piece was probably not part of a frieze, however, nor of any other type of architectural sculpture: the figure’s back side is almost as well defined as its front. Meant to be seen from all directions, the RISD torso may have been part of a battle scene in the round. The stump that juts out curiously from the figure’s lower left buttock was perhaps the strut that served to support and anchor the piece to its base.