Classical Antiquities at Wellesley College

The Wellesley Athlete (Male Nude in the Manner of Polykleitos)

The "Male Nude in the Manner of Polykleitos," which eventually adopted the name of its home institution, is probably Wellesley’s longest displayed work of ancient art. In the words of Prof. K. Geffcken (Classics), “The Wellesley Athlete was nearly always visible."  After it was purchased in 1904 by Alice Von Vechten Brown (with funds donated by Hannah Parker Kimball) it was installed in the North Gallery of the Farnsworth Museum. 
When the Davis opened in 1993, the Wellesley Athlete was moved, along with all the other Greek and Roman antiquities, from the Jewett Sculpture Court to the fifth floor of the new museum as architect Rafael Moneo envisioned. In 2008 the museum underwent a thematic reinstallation, and the Wellesley Athlete installed in a group about idealized bodies. Prof. Bryan Burns recalled being asked by the Davis Museum Student Advisory Committee to give a gallery talk with Prof. Peggy Levitt (Sociology) on this group. He spoke about the Wellesley Athlete and she spoke about a nearby Baga shoulder mask. He told me, "That was the kind of interaction that that installation was designed to provoke. [...] It was successful, in that respect." 
Prof. Burns also said that the Wellesley Athlete fit into Prof. Marvin's work on Roman versions of Greek sculpture. She had the marble conserved in the 1980s, which was memorable for several students of that time period. 
 
 

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