Genius of Eternal Rest, called the Mazarin Narcissus
Unknown · Third century AD (?)
A slender youth leans against a tree trunk with both arms folded over his head, eyes half closed, long locks falling to his shoulders under a crown of flowers. The pose of complete relaxation gave him his modern name, the Genius of Eternal Rest, a spirit of sleep or death; an older tradition called him Narcissus, the boy in love with his own reflection. Look at the eyes: the iris and pupil are engraved into the marble, a habit of the second and third centuries, and the locks are hollowed with a drill. The upper marble is coarse and sparkling and may come from the quarries near Aphrodisias in Asia Minor.
Only the top half, down to the waist, is ancient. The legs, the lower trunk and the base are modern work in a different, fine-grained marble, and the damage to the chest, belly and thighs was inflicted in modern times before being patched. The statue belonged to Cardinal Mazarin, whose collection made him the greatest French collector of his century, and it was seized during the Revolution in 1793.
Did You Know? Two names compete for this sleepy youth: Narcissus for the old collectors, Genius of Eternal Rest for later scholars.
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