This is my last work in progress, one of more curious fighters in “arena”, a “pumilio”, a dwarf!
We know many times dwarfs fight in circus performances opposite rabbits and hares, whit scorn and grotesque sense.
Primary sources of this figure is a little bronze statue today in British Museum, London (GR1922.7-12.4) seeing in “Gladiators and Caesars” – University of California Press (photo 139 page 127) that clearly shows a man with stocky anatomy, big head and body with short legs and arms, a dwarf that says the caption; this man wears, over the tunic, an anatomic cuirass with a double line of “pteryges” at waist, a crested helm of unrecognizable model and a small semispherical shield, but weapon is missing. Author presents this man as “hoplomachus” (?), but reason is not clear.
My favourite scale is 75mm and for the realization of a dwarf I look for in 54mm a figure with naked arms and legs, and “Neandhertal man” of Italian firm “Pegaso Models” is a good figure for my project; only big operation, further cut off the head replaced by a 75mm head (spiral ringlets of hair are electric wires), is the construction of tunic and cuirass with pteryges (Magic-sculpt, lead leaf and Historex accessories).
Secondary work is folding of left leg so to obtain a running man, and thirty work is elimination of stone dagger in right hand and gazelle (?) skull in left hand, cut off and substituted; shield, sword and rabbit are old pieces of my warehouse.
As the bronze is dated early second century. AD, (more or less the period of the Second Jewish War 115-117) I wanted to characterize my subject as a prisoner deported to Rome in Judea (which would soon change its name to the province of Syria Palestine).
There are no evidence for colours on little statue, so the paint is hypothetic.
assuming that cuirass was boiled leather and not metal (for weight problem), I paint it red leather, with mustard yellow tunic.
the colors of the metals are iron for sword blade and bronze for shield, with headgear in grey and white.
Robert