Teucer

This imposing bronze captures the breathless moment just after Teucer, a celebrated Greek archer, has shot an arrow at a Trojan adversary. His muscles still tensed from drawing his bow, he tracks the arrow’s path, hoping his aim was true.

Teucer was praised for its realism when it was first exhibited in London in 1881. Chicago collector and philanthropist George A. Armour, who owned a small replica of the composition, commissioned this full-scale bronze cast from the artist in 1891 and immediately gave it to the Art Institute of Chicago. It was among the earliest modern European sculptures to enter the museum’s collection.