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| Anonymous Italian sculptor Pilaster capital after a Roman model ca. 1550 limestone Victoria & Albert Museum |
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| Roman pilaster capital 1st century AD marble Metropolitan Museum of Art |
The two pilaster capitals above (one Renaissance, one ancient) both belong to the Composite Order. This was invented by the Romans as an elaboration of the Corinthian Order, which they inherited from the Greeks. The volutes (twin spirals near the top) on Composite capitals are enlarged in proportion to the body.
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| Fragment of Roman pilaster with carved relief of sacrificial incense burner 1st century AD marble Metropolitan Museum of Art |
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| Roman relief-carving of horse-tamer from Hadrian's Villa AD 117-150 marble British Museum |
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| Roman relief-panel of Ariadne AD 50-100 stucco Metropolitan Museum of Art |
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| Roman torso of a youth AD 118-161 marble Metropolitan Museum of Art |
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| Roman statue of Hypnos AD 130-150 marble Prado |
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| Roman statue of Apollo AD 175-200 marble Prado |
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| Roman radiate with image of Aurelian AD 270-275 coin in copper-alloy British Museum |
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| Roman bust of Zeus Sabazios AD 180 200 bronze Victoria & Albert Museum |
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| Roman statue of the Emperor Trebonianus Gallus AD 251-253 bronze Metropolitan Museum of Art |
Three Roman marble copies of an earlier bronze Discobolus were discovered in Rome in the 1780s. The first eventually came to rest at the Vatican, the second at the British Museum, and the third at the Museo delle Terme in Rome. This third one, sometimes called the Villa Palombara version (from its place of discovery) is universally agreed to be the "best." It is the only one with an original head attached in the original position as it must have appeared on the lost bronze original. This was the one that Adolf Hitler forced the Italian government to sell him in 1938 (it was returned in 1948). Yet the other two versions (restored incorrectly with the head looking down) enjoy an equal or greater share of fame and frequency of reproduction. Many of the inexpensive casts and copies still widely sold combine features from all three.
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| Robert Macpherson Discobolus (Vatican) 1850s gelatin silver print Getty Museum, Los Angeles |
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| Discobolus (Townley) Roman marble statue British Museum |
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| Discobolus (Villa Palombara) Roman marble statue Museo delle Terme, Rome |