Among the gem imprints in the collection of the University of Rome La Sapienza Gipsoteca (museum of casts) is a rather rare one of unknown material and place of origin. It depicts a nude youth, dressed in helmet and cloak. He faces right, with his head in profile, and is bending down to adjust his shin guard; the raised left foot rests on a pedestal. This iconography is found on numerous gems, but the problem remains whether the image is indeed an isolated motif or part of a larger composition. The author proposes that it should be considered an isolated motif to which other figures can be adapted in a variety of scenes; the image, dating back at least to the western frieze of the Parthenon (panels 6 and 15), can be found often on Chalcidian pottery and both black- and red-figure Attic painting, and in sculpture (its affinity with the Lysippan "Sandalbinder" comes to mind). The theme may have been transferred to the glyptic arts in the late Etruscan period, where it represented a generic warrior without reference to any specific myth. The image's longevity on rings (from the third century B.C. to at least the end of the second century A.D.) was probably due to its popularity with Roman youths embarking on a military career.
