The Boxer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

On view recently at the Met is The Boxer, a magnificent sculpture of a fighter at rest dating to the Hellenistic period (late 4th–2nd century B.C.E.), uncovered in Rome in the 19th century. Different types of metals depict his injuries, from cuts on his cheeks and chest to cauliflower ears to drips of blood on his leg. He breathes through his mouth, as his nose has been broken, repeatedly. He turns his head --- does he hear his name? A cry of pain or death? A master's call? The roar of a crowd or applause? It's impossible to tell. He is massive and heart-breaking, still capable of wounding, so many thousands of years after his final fight.