Spinario, early 20th century.

Modeled on the Capitoline Spinario (1st century BC).
"The child of the thorn", early twentieth century.
Sculpture in stucco.
It has a slight crack at the base.
Measurements: 80 x 50 x 60 cm.

Successful plaster reproduction of the Child of the Thorn or Spinario, a sculpture from the Hellenistic period that is exhibited in the Capitoline Museums in Rome. It represents a boy sitting while removing a thorn from the sole of his left foot. It knew important versions throughout the history of art. The statue is documented in Rome since the twelfth century and was donated to the city by Sixtus IV in 1471, remaining in the Lateran Palace. Throughout the Renaissance it was one of the most admired and copied ancient statues. At that time was born the legend of the Roman shepherd boy Cnaeus Martius, in charge of delivering an important message to the Senate, who ran a long way ignoring the thorn in his foot until he did not see his mission accomplished. In 1798, Napoleon appropriated the statue and sent it to his museum in Paris (now the Louvre Museum), where it remained until 1815.