Roman statue
- Gallery: Room 70
- Culture: Roman
- Date: 1stC BC-1stC (probably)
- Object type: statue
- Materials: marble
- Museum number: 1805,0703.6
- Museum: The British Museum
- Collection record: British Museum website
- Image © The Trustees of the British Museum, shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.
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About this object
Before you stands a Roman statue carved from smooth, gleaming marble—a scene of balance and tension. A young acrobat is perched on the back of a crocodile, his body rigid and his mouth open in a wide expression of effort. His arms strain against the crocodile’s rear, and his African features are carefully rendered with intricate corkscrew curls.
The crocodile was once broken, and many parts have been expertly restored—in particular its head, tail, and paws. We don’t know exactly how its original head looked, only that it now opens wide with sharp teeth. The figure comes from Rome, acquired in the late 18th century by the collector Townley. It may have once been part of a fountain, where water could have spurted from the crocodile or the acrobat.
This sculpture offers a rare look at diversity in ancient Rome, capturing the presence of African figures in Roman art and imagination.
See it in person
Roman statue is on display in Room 70 at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London — free to enter. Choose British Museum on audioguide.london and take a photo of it to hear this free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
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