In the triclinium of the house of Caius Julius Polybius, during the lavish banquets offered by the owners – members of a wealthy family of freed slaves – stood this elegant bronze statue used as a support for oil lamps. Its ephebic body, with lineaments that verge on the exotic, along with the dark colour and iridescent shine of the metal, were an amused allusion to the fashion of having young slaves present at banquets. Often richly attired or, in some cases, entirely naked, they were quite the delight of the dining party.
This work is in fact a finely-crafted representation of Apollo, an outstanding piece from the First Century BCE. It is an eclectic combination of Greek archaicism (its facial lineaments, generous almond-shaped eyes and elaborate hairstyle are reminiscent of well-known statues of young boys – kouroi – produced in the Sixth Century BCE) and a later style in which bodies were rendered in softer outlines. The statue may have originally been conceived for religious purposes. In line with a fashion attested in Pompeii in the First Century BCE – documented by other similar works in bronze – a diadem was added to the head and the hands were fitted with racemes, thus transforming this Apollo into a comely, lamp-bearing slave.