Statuette of a Lictor

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First half of the 1st century

Roman

The official attendants and bodyguards of Roman magistrates known as lictors were usually citizens of low birth, such as freedmen (former slaves). Typically, as seen here, a lictor wore a toga and carried in his left hand the bundle of elm or birch rods tied with a red belt that symbolized the magistrates’ executive power. This statuette likely belonged to a larger historical relief depicting a ceremonial scene, perhaps on the breastplate of a bronze statue of a horse, where similar statuettes of lictors are known to have been displayed.

Status: On View, Gallery 152
Department: Arts of the Ancient Mediterranean and Byzantium

Culture: Ancient Roman
Title: Statuette of a Lictor
Place: Roman Empire (Object made in)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1 CE–50 CE
Medium: Bronze
Dimensions: 11.7 × 5 × 3 cm (4 5/8 × 2 × 1 1/8 in.)
Credit Line: James W. and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection
Reference Number: 1980.809
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/61392/manifest.json

Art Institute of Chicago, Annual Report: 1980-81 (Art Institute of Chicago, 1981), p. 49.
Karen B. Alexander, “From Plaster to Stone: Ancient Art at the Art Institute of Chicago,” in Karen Manchester, Recasting the Past: Collecting and Presenting Antiquities at the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012), p. 33.
Katharine A. Raff, “Cat. 145 Attachment Depicting a Lictor: Curatorial Entry,” in Roman Art at the Art Institute of Chicago (Art Institute of Chicago, 2016).

Art Institute of Chicago, Ancient Art Galleries, Gallery 156, April 20, 1994 - February 6, 2012.
Art Institute of Chicago, Of Gods and Glamour: The Mary and Michael Jaharis Galleries of Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Art, Gallery 152, November 11, 2012 - present.

Edward Smith, New York, NY [this and the following according to appraisal by Pick Galleries, Winnetka, IL, copy in curatorial file]; sold to James W. (1913-1990) and Marilynn (1925-2019) Alsdorf by December 5, 1980; given to the Art Institute of Chicago December 18, 1980.

Cat. 145 Attachment Depicting a Lictor, first half of the 1st century A.D.

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.