Image: public domain, courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Bronze statue of Eros sleeping

Ancient Greece, 3rd–2nd century BC

Eros, the god of love, is shown as a chubby little child fast asleep, lying on his back across a rock. His feathered wings rest against the stone and one arm hangs loosely, as if he had dropped off to sleep in the middle of playing.

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Did you know?

This bronze was made in the Hellenistic period, in the 3rd or 2nd century BC.
It is one of the very few bronze statues that have survived from ancient Greek times.
Most ancient bronze statues were later melted down so that the valuable metal could be used again.
The sleeping Eros was so loved that many Roman marble copies of it survive in museums today.
In Roman times, statues of a sleeping Eros often decorated gardens and fountains.
Experts consider this New York bronze the finest and closest surviving example of the famous design that the Romans copied.

About this culture

Ancient Greek art grew over many centuries, from the stiff, patterned statues of the Archaic period (about 650–480 BC) to ever more lifelike figures in later times.

Greek sculptors carved gods, heroes and young athletes in marble and cast them in bronze, and their statues were originally brightly painted.

Most Greek bronze statues were later melted down for their metal, so the few that survive, like the sleeping Eros, are true treasures.

Ancient Greece ›

Where it is today: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York · Museum page