Two copies of the 2nd c. CE from a bronze original of the fifth-century sculptor Myron, much celebrated by the ancient writers as a fundamental work for the study of the athletic figure in motion.
The Lancelotti Discobolous, discovered in 1871 on the Esquiline Hill in an area anciently occupied by villas and gardens and then entered into the collections of Palazzo Massimo-Lancellotti, during World War II was transferred to Germany and returned to Italy in 1948.
Executed in the Antonine Age, because of its lack of tridimensionality it is considered one of the closest replicas to the original, generally dated from about 450 BCE.
On the other hand, the Discobolus from Castel Porziano, unfortunately lacking the head, was found in 1906 among the remains of an Imperial villa in the estate of Castel Porziano.
It constitutes a more naturalistic and evolved version in comparison with the Lancelloti copy, which perhaps was executed in the age of Hadrian, as suggested by the support in the shape of a palm trunk and by the shape of the plinth.