A ROMAN BLACK MARBLE HEAD OF SERAPIS

CIRCA 2ND CENTURY A.D.

Details

A ROMAN BLACK MARBLE HEAD OF SERAPIS
Circa 2nd Century A.D.
His long wavy hair deeply drilled and framing his face, with several locks swept up at the forehead and the characteristic fringe of five vertical locks once descending on to the forehead, with a thick mustache and full beard forming a split at the chin, his deep-set convex eyes unarticulated, with thick upper lids, the head supporting a plinth with a central mortise for attachment of the now-missing modius, the mouth later drilled through for secondary use, perhaps as a fountain
12½ in. (31.7 cm) high

Provenance

Catalogue de la Sélection de Meubles, Objects d'Art et de Fouilles Tableaux, Tapis, etc. faisant partie de la Fameuse Collection appartenant a Mr. Maurice Nahmann, M.G. Levi, Cairo, 2 April 1943, lot 173

Lot Essay

Most statues of Serapis are routinely attributed to Bryaxis, who is thought to have sculpted the cult statue for the god's sanctuary at Alexandria in the late 4th century B.C. However, as Ridgway informs (Hellenistic Sculpture I, p. 95-96), this attribution is based on the garbled account of the late 2nd century A.D. writer, Clement of Alexandria. Despite the confusion, there are two main types that are recognized in numerous Roman copies, neither of which can be attributed to Bryaxis. One type has the hair upswept in anastole and one, like the present example, has the five descending locks on the forehead. This second type is known at least as early as 166 B.C. from the statuette found at Delos. Since the cult of Serapis was popular throughout the Greek and Roman world, it is impossible to know which original cult statue the five-lock type reproduces. A number of other Serapis heads and figures are known also sculpted from dark stone, suggesting that the choice of material reflects more closely a bronze original. See for example nos. 48-52 in Belli Pasqua, Sculture di Etá Romana in Basalto.

More from ANTIQUITIES

View All