One of the four branches of the National Roman Museum, Palazzo Massimo is one of the most beautiful museums in Rome, housing wonderful originals and Roman copies of Greek statues, including the one considered the most moving to have reached us: the Boxer at Rest.

Immediately after the entrance to the Museum, located almost opposite the Roma Termini Station, along the central corridor on the right, there is the room that houses two absolute masterpieces of original classical Greek statues: the Boxer at Rest and the Hellenistic Prince, made using a technique of casting in multiple parts in copper, tin and lead alloy.

It was February 1885 when, on the slopes of the Quirinale, the statue of the Hellenistic Prince was discovered between the foundation walls of an ancient building. A month later, behind the same structure, the boxer emerged, also “hidden” many meters underground.

Disguise yourself as you wish; you will always be a son of Greece and Rome. (Ugo Ojetti)

The sculpture, 128 cm high, portrays with crude realism a boxer resting at the end of a fight with signs of injuries on his body and face rendered in color through the use of red copper that highlights the wounds from which small drops of blood fall onto the body.

The boxer is seated with his body contracted so that the observer’s gaze focuses on the athlete’s face, with its very strong expression. The statue, of notable quality, has been attributed to an artist of the late Hellenistic age (2nd-1st century BC) inspired by the art of the Greek sculptor Lysippus (4th century BC).

The beauty and emotion that the Boxer at Rest arouses in the visitor makes us understand why Greek devotional sculpture changed the history of world art forever, giving birth in Italy to Neoclassicism, an artistic trend from the second half of the 18th century that would reach the peak of aesthetic refinement.

The Secret

The position in which the Boxer was found led to the belief that it was intentionally hidden, perhaps to protect it from the risk of looting. Furthermore, the original location of the statue in Rome, which perhaps decorated the nearby Baths of Constantine, also remains a mystery.

Useful Info

Museo Nazionale Romano
Palazzo Massimo
Largo di Villa Peretti 2
00185 Roma
Tel. +39 06 684851

Entrance: 8 euro, see the Museum website for tickets integrated with other locations and special events