CIRCA 1ST-2ND CENTURY A.D.

Apollo was the ancient Greek and Roman god with multifaceted dominion over light, the sun, truth, prophecy, music and poetry. The son of Zeus and Leto, and the twin brother of Artemis, Apollo was among the most important gods in the Greco-Roman pantheon.

The god is portrayed in ancient art with an idealized beauty encompassing the strength of the male physique often combined with a subtle touch of femininity, both characteristics espoused here in a decidedly androgynous fashion. Indeed, Apollo was the ideal kouros, or youth, in ancient Greece. As Carpenter remarks (Art and Myth in Ancient Greece, p. 43), “in Classical and later art [Apollo] is always beardless and often naked, the epitome of young male beauty.” While he is often depicted with a lyre or kithara – symbolic of his role as the patron deity of poets and musicians – he is also associated with the bow and arrow, underlying the destructive tendencies of the god and his ability to ward off evil and illness.

The Apollo presented here is depicted with his head dramatically turned to his left on a long neck. His idealized classical visage displays deep-set almond-shaped eyes beneath slightly arching brows. His cheeks narrow to a pronounced chin, his mouth with full parted lips. Apollo’s wavy hair is center parted and bound in a broad fillet. Symmetrical curls cover the nape of his neck and escape before the ears.

While the type resembles some depictions of Aphrodite, his identification as Apollo is confirmed by comparison to a number of extant Roman examples based on earlier Greek prototypes from the 5th and 4th centuries B.C. It is a purely Roman eclectic creation, based in part on the Apollo Sauroktonos of Praxiteles (compare the Apollo in Copenhagen at the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, no. 81m in Lambrinudakis, et al., “Apollon,” LIMC, vol. II).