Anonymous
S. I d.C.
Sculpted marble
160 cm x 70 cmx 40 cm
Nº inv. 20004
Located in the garden designed by Sorolla himself and inspired by Hispano-Islamic and classical gardens is this marble sculpture from the classical Roman era which represents a male figure wearing a toga.
Like many sculptures of that period, it has survived to the present day with some damage and losses. The most conspicuous is the absence of the head and the forearms, partly due to being projecting elements and thus easily breakable, but also because they were sculpted separately from the rest of the body. In the Roman world the subject’s social status and rank was conveyed through the body and clothing and in this case the fact of wearing a toga identifies the subject as a Roman citizen, implying a series of rights and privileges. Sitters were individualised in their portraits through the head and arms.
Discovered in the ruins of Cástulo, an ancient Roman city in the province of Jaén, this marble sculpture was gifted to Sorolla by the Marquis of Viana in January 1916. As the artist commented: “It could not be in a better place than in this lovely garden.” From the outset Sorolla considered it a key element for the second garden, which he had been designing on paper for some years and which was the last to be completed. Together with the bench of Triana tiles and the fountain, the figure, which remains in its original location, defines the compositional axis of this garden, which has a notably archaeological character in comparison to the other planted-out spaces that surround the house.
In addition to being present in the second garden, the sculpture also appears in various sketches which Sorolla produced for the definitive design of this part of the garden (inv. nos. 11312, 11315, 11320, 11323 and 11324), and also in two canvases both entitled Garden of the Sorolla House, datable between 1917 and 1918 (inv. no. 01235) and 1918 and 1919 (inv. no. 01237), respectively.