Page 363 - The Legacy of Abraham Rothstein - text

Portraits: historical

his crotch, preserving a modicum of modesty. It is unlikely
Archimedes would have carried that tool of his trade to the
bath, but AR liked to place identifying objects in his subject’s
hands.

The piece also reflects the sculptor’s ambivalence toward
dignity: on the one hand, a man’s outer appearance and
behavior should maintain his status, and a person of moral or
intellectual authority ought to look like one; on the other, any
false pride or unearned attributes of status deserve ridicule and
deflation. The scholar on the toilet (no. 3) is an example of the
latter, as is the praying Moslem (no. 4). In this case, however,
AR allowed the subject to keep his dignity; the situation may
evoke laughter, but Archimedes’ scientific stature overrides the
accidental loss of status implicit in public nudity. A photograph
dated March 1959 shows this carving in AR’s possession.

81 Boadicea (?)
Wood
15.5” x 7.5”

The identification of this piece is tentative, based on two telling
details: the woman is wearing a crown, and one arm is upraised
as if in defiance. Although the shape of the branch might easily
have led AR to carve a figure with one arm raised, his choice of
subject could have been influenced by what he was reading.
The story of the widowed British queen who led a revolt
against her nation’s Roman overlords must have struck a chord
in the sculptor’s own political and historical sensibilities. The
figure is crudely rendered, with minimal detail; the base is low
and inset, about a quarter of an inch high beneath the
cylindrical robes of the woman.

26 Saadiah Gaon *
Wood
7.5” x 3”
Inscription: Saadiah Gaon (Hebrew) on front of table

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