Mitchell, Lucy M.: A history of ancient sculpture (New York, 1883)

GENRE SUBJECTS IN SCULPTURE.

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bends over the raised. foot much more deeply than does that of the boy of the
Capitol. Each muscle is swollen by exertion; and the rustic lad, with open
mouth and intent gaze, seems so much absorbed in extracting the offending
brier, that our sympathy for him is at once enlisted, and we hope that he may
succeed. How truthful the vigorous form, the tumbled hair, the homely peas-
ant face, and how charming the manipulation of the marble! To the majority



Fig. 24-8. Marble Statue of Boy extracting Thorn from Foot. British Museum.

this figure must appeal more strongly than the older, sternly generalized figure
of the Capitol; and were we asked to choose, not a votive gift to be put in a
temple, but some pleasing ornament for garden or shady fountain, we could not
do better than select this rustic, with his wounded foot, who once, indeed, must
have decorated a fountain, as may be inferred from the holes in his rocky seat.
Akin in spirit to these gcii?r-\iV.e works is the group of wrestling athletes
at Florence, which, by reason of its intricate composition, its display of anatomi-