The Boxer at Rest, an ancient bronze sculpture from the Hellenistic period, is currently on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. This is the first time the work has been exhibited outside of Europe as it typically resides at the Museo Nazionale Romano in Rome. The sculpture is on view in the Met’s Greek and Roman Galleries as part of the initiative 2013 – Year of Italian Culture in the United States, which is spearheaded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

 The Boxer at Rest was discovered on the Quirinal Hill of Rome in 1885 and displayed alongside another Hellenistic bronze in the Rotunda of the Baths of Diocletian. The sculpture, which features a boxer in repose, is believes to be from somewhere between 350 B.C. and 50 B.C. It was made section-by-section and later welded together; it features copper inlays to depict the boxer’s wounds, drops of blood, and lips. The ancient bronze statue sits atop a modern stone base that is a close approximation of what the ancient base looked like.

The Boxer at Rest is one of very few original Greek bronze sculptures preserved from antiquity. The work will be on view at the Met through July 15, 2013.