The aim of this paper is to examine the mobility of the sculptors, a main category of specialized artisans, in the Greek and Roman world. Literary sources and documents such as the inventories of the most important sanctuaries allow us to trace the importance of the temporary mobility, which characterized the constructions sites that attracted many artists from abroad. The signatures of the statues often allow us to recognize, with caution, the actual emigration of sculptors towards a new and more satisfactory artistic market. In the Hellenistic age, the case of Rhodos stands out for its coherent policy of integration through the epidamia and the granting of citizenship. Then, the beginning of the imperial age shows for the first time a massive transfer of Greek workshops to Rome, Latium and Campania. Later, followed the birth of a rich marble market in which both sculptors and statues, often part- or near-finished in the quarries travelled to the working sites or to the final locations. The Empire gave also to the sculptors an opportunity to move from Rome to the Provinces and among the Provinces themselves.
