The Wrestler (sculpture)

The Wrestler (sculpture)

The Wrestler is an ancient basalt statuette that is one of the most important sculptures of the Olmec culture. The near life-size figure has been praised not only for its realism and sense of energy, but also for its aesthetic qualities. Since 1964, the sculpture has been part of the collection of the Museo Nacional de Antropología in Mexico City.

This 66-centimetre (26 in)-high Mesoamerican statuette was discovered in 1933 by a farmer in Arroyo Sonso, in the Mexican state of Veracruz near the Rio Uxpanapa and not far from its confluence with the Coatzacoalcos River, an area now known as Antonio Plaza.

It is considered unlikely that this sculpture, also known formally as Antonio Plaza Monument 1 as well as El Luchador Olmeca (Spanish, "the Olmec wrestler") actually represents a wrestler.