I went to the British Museum yesterday. I happened to be wandering through the galleries of ancient Roman statues, and the face of one of them caught my eye.
The statue was labelled as being the likeness of a priest. What got my attention wasn't simply the fact that it was wonderfully life-like, and obviously made by a very skilled artist, but the way it looked so... I suppose the only word I can use is 'modern'.
That face was one I could easily imagine belonging to a country vicar today. Or someone in the queue at Asda. Or a next door neighbour. Here was the face on an ancient Roman, someone who lived two thousand years ago, and yet the way it had been carved from the stone made it feel as if it might open its eyes at any moment.
Good thing it didn't. I'd have freaked out. The point is, seeing that statue brought it home to me how similar we are, how times and circumstances may change, but people don't. That face might have belonged to the 21st century, or the 19th, or the 59th! It just happened to be Roman, that's all.
Just a thought.
The statue was labelled as being the likeness of a priest. What got my attention wasn't simply the fact that it was wonderfully life-like, and obviously made by a very skilled artist, but the way it looked so... I suppose the only word I can use is 'modern'.
That face was one I could easily imagine belonging to a country vicar today. Or someone in the queue at Asda. Or a next door neighbour. Here was the face on an ancient Roman, someone who lived two thousand years ago, and yet the way it had been carved from the stone made it feel as if it might open its eyes at any moment.
Good thing it didn't. I'd have freaked out. The point is, seeing that statue brought it home to me how similar we are, how times and circumstances may change, but people don't. That face might have belonged to the 21st century, or the 19th, or the 59th! It just happened to be Roman, that's all.
Just a thought.
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