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Lot Essay
PUBLISHED: Images, no. 51; Alexandre, p. 156.
The history and development of the cult of Serapis are much debated but it is generally accepted that the Hellenised deity was introduced to Egypt by Ptolemy I. The image of the new god was created by the Hellenistic artist of international repute, Bryaxis, who produced a monumental cult statue for the great temple in Alexandria. He presented Serapis seated with the benevolent bearded face of Zeus, his head crowned with a modius (grain measure and symbol of fertility), one arm raised to hold a staff, with the three-headed dog Cerberus at his knee. There is considerable discussion over the appearance of the head of the original statue since most preserved examples fall into two groups. For a full discussion, see W. Hornbostel, Sarapis, Studien zur Überleiferungsgeschichte, den Erscheinungsformen und Wandlungen de Gestalt eines Gottes, (EPRO32), Leiden 1973, pp. 1-50; see no. 60, pl. XL for the best preserved marble replica of the Bryaxis statue, now in the Greek and Roman Museum, Alexandria, inv. 3916. For a very similar alabaster bust to the present lot, cf. H. Hoffman, Ten Centuries that shaped the West, Greek and Roman Art in Texas collections, Texas, 1971, p. 72, no. 22.
The history and development of the cult of Serapis are much debated but it is generally accepted that the Hellenised deity was introduced to Egypt by Ptolemy I. The image of the new god was created by the Hellenistic artist of international repute, Bryaxis, who produced a monumental cult statue for the great temple in Alexandria. He presented Serapis seated with the benevolent bearded face of Zeus, his head crowned with a modius (grain measure and symbol of fertility), one arm raised to hold a staff, with the three-headed dog Cerberus at his knee. There is considerable discussion over the appearance of the head of the original statue since most preserved examples fall into two groups. For a full discussion, see W. Hornbostel, Sarapis, Studien zur Überleiferungsgeschichte, den Erscheinungsformen und Wandlungen de Gestalt eines Gottes, (EPRO32), Leiden 1973, pp. 1-50; see no. 60, pl. XL for the best preserved marble replica of the Bryaxis statue, now in the Greek and Roman Museum, Alexandria, inv. 3916. For a very similar alabaster bust to the present lot, cf. H. Hoffman, Ten Centuries that shaped the West, Greek and Roman Art in Texas collections, Texas, 1971, p. 72, no. 22.