A HELLENISTIC LIMESTONE ANICONIC STANDING CULT FIGURE OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT (AIGIOCHOS)

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PROPERTY FROM AN ASIAN COLLECTION

A HELLENISTIC LIMESTONE ANICONIC STANDING CULT FIGURE OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT (AIGIOCHOS)

CIRCA 2ND-1ST CENTURY B.C.

Details

A HELLENISTIC LIMESTONE ANICONIC STANDING CULT FIGURE OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT (AIGIOCHOS)
CIRCA 2ND-1ST CENTURY B.C.
The deified ruler wearing a large aegis-goatskin bordered with snakes, attached at the shoulder like the Macedonian military chlamys, he stands with his left arm and leg bent forwards, his left arm would have held a statuette copy of the famous Athena Palladion-warrior, his right would have grasped a sceptre or spear, the weight resting on his right leg, to the side of which is a snake crawling up a stand, traces of red and yellow gessoed colour, on wooden mount
27 in. (68.5 cm.) high

Provenance

Acquired during the late 1960s to early 1970s.

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price plus buyer's premium.

Lot Essay

The cult of Alexander, introduced into Egypt by Ptolemy Soter around 290 B.C., was set up in the principal Hellenistic royal cities, but the extant statues were found at Alexandria and Ptolemais. Cf. Exhibition catalogue, La Glorie d'Alexandrie, Paris, 1998, p. 55, no. 19, illustrating a similar statue found at Ptolemais and now in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, (inv. GR69 1970); also see E. Vassilika, Greek and Roman Art, Cambridge, 1998, p. 70, no.33. The statue, copied for centuries, was a popular military dedication enhancing the name of 'Alex-andros', the repeller of men.

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