Tucked outside an unassuming office building in Tokyo’s Shinbashi district rests an astonishing piece of classical antiquity: a genuine second-century Roman sculpture of Antinous, the tragic beloved of Emperor Hadrian. Salvaged from Italian waters in 1798 and left behind when the Matsuoka Museum of Art relocated, the marble figure portrays the deified youth clutching a bouquet of flowers with a melancholic gaze. A close inspection reveals the delicate ancient patina of a piece whose near-identical twin resides in the Vatican Museums. It offers an unexpected, surreal encounter with ancient Mediterranean history right on a modern Japanese street corner.
- Statues & Sculptures
- Ancient Roman Art
- Hidden Gems
- Outdoor Art
- Oddities & Curiosities
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