Tyche of Antioch Artist: Roman copy of an original by Eutychides (Greek, active ca. 295 B.C.)

ca. 1st–2nd century A.D.

Ancient Art

Not on view

This bronze statuette of the Roman period is modeled on one of the most influential statues of antiquity—the Tyche of Antioch by Eutychides, created in about 300 B.C. Tyche, the personification of Fortune, was held in great esteem in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Cities throughout the Graeco-Roman world attempted to improve their own fortunes by celebrating Tyche as a civic deity. Tyche is usually represented in art as a female figure, wearing a mural crown. Sometimes identifying attributes, such as landscape features, were incorporated into a particular city's image of Tyche. Judging by surviving copies, Eutychides's Tyche of Antioch was shown seated on a rock, with a personification of the river Orontes at her feet. It is unclear whether Yale's statuette originally included the figure of Orontes.

Medium

Bronze, hollow cast; originally inlaid with silver at eyes; base cast separately and attached

Dimensions

5 7/8 × 3 5/16 × 3 1/16 in. (15 × 8.4 × 7.7 cm)

Credit Line

Leonard C. Hanna, Jr., Class of 1913, Fund

Accession Number

1986.65.1

Culture

Roman, after a Greek original

Period

Roman

Classification

Sculpture

Disclaimer

Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Provenance
Ariadne Galleries; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., acquired from the above, 1986.
Bibliography
  • Susan B. Matheson, "Ancient Greek Bronzes at Yale," in "Recent Acquisitions 2001–2003," special issue, Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (2004), 53, ill
  • Richard A. Grossmann, Ancient Glass: A Guide to the Yale Collection (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 2002), 33, left, fig. 33
  • "Catalogue of the Exhibition 'An Obsession with Fortune: Tyche in Greek and Roman Art'," in "An Obsession with Fortune: Tyche in Greek and Roman Art," special issue, Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (1994), 108, no. 2
  • Mark D. Stansbury-O'Donnell, "Reflections of the Tyche of Antioch in Literary Sources and on Coins," in "An Obsession with Fortune: Tyche in Greek and Roman Art," special issue, Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (1994), 54, no. 2, fig. 31
  • Handbook of the Collections, exh. cat. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 1992), 266, ill
Object copyright
No Copyright - United States
Additional information

Object/Work type

human figures (visual works), mythology

Technical metadata and APIs

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