The athlete from Lošinj belongs to a wellknown sculptural type which is attested by eight variations, his closest being the bronze statue found in Ephesus (nowadays on display at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna) ‒ that was restored from 234 pieces.
Another similar marble sculpture is kept at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, along with basalt torso from Castel Gandolfo, and a reduced marble version from Boston. Also important are marble heads on display at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, in Bruxelles, and in Rome’s Museo Torlonia. But the most important parallel of the statue from Lošinj is found in the bronze head of his “brother” that was bought by Kimbel Art Museum (Fort Worth, Texas) in 2000. It comes from the famous Nani collection from Venice, which is based mostly on archaeological material from Dalmatia and Levant.
Still, the Apoxyomenos from Lošinj stands out as the most faithful image of the prototype with his integrity and his quality. He was wonderfully received at numerous exhibitions in shrines of art around the world (Palazzo Medici Riccardi in Florence 2006/2007; Musée du Louvre in 2012; British Museum in 2015; J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles in 2015). This feeling will follow him on his way to his permanent home on Lošinj.
Josip Belamarić, PhD, Senior Research Associate at the Institute of Art History, Split
