Dying Gaul

The Dying Gaul

The Dying Gaul is an ancient Roman marble copy of a lost ancient Greek statue, thought to have been bronze, that was commissioned some time between 230 BC-220 BC by Pergamon to honor its victory over the Galatians.

The statue depicts a dying barbarian with remarkable realism, particularly in the face. He is represented as a Gallic warrior with a typically Gallic hairstyle, moustache, and neck torc. The present base was added after its rediscovery. The statue serves both as a reminder of the barbarians' defeat, thus demonstrating the might of the people that defeated them, and a memorial to their bravery as worthy adversaries.

The Dying Gaul became one of the most celebrated works to have survived from antiquity and was endlessly copied and engraved by artists and sculptors. It is thought to have been rediscovered in the early 17th century during excavations for the foundations of the Villa Ludovisi and was first recorded in 1623 in the collections of the powerful Ludovisi family. It was looted by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1797 and returned to Rome in 1815, where it is currently on display in the Capitoline Museum.