Apoxyomenos Museum – Mali Lošinj

The Island of Mali Losinj is more than just sun and sea.

Since 2016, a museum has been open that exhibits a statue found by a Belgian tourist while diving on the seabed of Lošinj: it is an ancient bronze work of art as tall as 192cm.

The statue depicts an adult man, an athlete, as he is cleansing his body of dust and sweat with a scraper after an exercise or competition, which is why the work is known as the Lošinj Athlete or in Croatian Apoxyomenos after which the museum itself is named.

Having been in the seabed for nearly two millennia, before being brought to its current state, the work underwent a major restoration in which various materials such as pieces of wood, branches and some pieces of fruit were removed. The restoration took a full 6 years.

THE APOXIOMENOS MUSEUM

The museum is completely dedicated to a single work: the bronze statue of the young athlete Apoxyómenos, dating from the 1st or 2nd century BCE.

The museum is located at the Kvarner Palace in the center of Mali Lošinj and today is the artistic symbol of the island.