The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 18, 2025

Browned marble sculpture of the nude, muscular god Apollo with his head, arms, and legs below the knees broken off. He stands next to a triangular column on which rests a swan, neck curving to look back up at Apollo and a lyre on its back, between its open wings. The lyre, a u-shaped harp, has broken off above the base on which sit back-to-back Griffins, with lion bodies and eagle heads and wings.

Torso of Apollo

c. 100–200 CE

Italy, Roman

marble
Overall: 90 cm (35 7/16 in.)
Gift of J. H. Wade 1924.1017
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Apollo received his lyre from Hermes, who invented it.

Description

This ancient statue depicts the Greek god Apollo, identified by his youthful body and the fragmentary remains of his kithara, a type of lyre (or stringed instrument) used by poets and musicians in ancient Greece. Both the kithara, decorated with griffins, and the swan upon which it rests (atop a triangular column), signify Apollo’s roles as the god of music and leader of the Muses. Beloved by the Muses for their song, swans were considered sacred to Apollo because he gave them the gift of prophecy. Swans sing a glorious song before they die, knowing they will soon return to Apollo to be reborn.
  • Howard, R. “An Augustan Torso of Apollo.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 12, no. 3 (1925): 34–36 (ill.). www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1925. Reproduced: p. 64 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1928. Reproduced: p. 80 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 38 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 25 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 25 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 29 archive.org
  • Julie Mehretu: Portals. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 16-November 13, 2022).
    Gods and Heroes: Ancient Legends in Renaissance Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 26-December 31, 2017).
    Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 8, 1991).
    Art and Humanism in the Renaissance. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 23-February 25, 1962).
  • {{cite web|title=Torso of Apollo|url=false|author=|year=c. 100–200 CE|access-date=18 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1924.1017