Lot Essay
Syncretism of Greek and Egyptian deities spread throughout Graeco-Roman times. Harpocrates, along with Isis and Serapis, became extremely popular. Shrines were erected to the triad in the Campus Martius in Rome, and their cults spread throughout the Roman Empire. Statues of Harpocrates have been found from Britain to Asia Minor. Isis and her cult merged with local goddesses throughout the Mediterranean, Europe, Asia Minor and the East (see F.C. Grant ed. Hellenistic Religions: The Age of Syncretism, Indianapolis, 1953, "The Titles of Isis", pp. 128 ff.).
In this example, just below the left shoulder, a faintly indented band may indicate that a bracelet once encircled his arm above the biceps. Often Hellenistic Erotes were festooned with all manner of bracelets, such as the terracotta from Myrina in Asia Minor now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (see Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae, 1981, no. 959a). Such adornments are unusual on sculptures of Harpocrates, but a bronze in the Walters Art Gallery does have triple bands encircling each ankle (illustrated in the Catalogue of Classical Bronze Sculpture in the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, 1949, no. 74).
The right hand hangs at his side, and the curled fingers indicate that an object was once held in his hand. The left shoulder is drawn back. The missing arm may have been crooked, as it is on the Cleveland bronze (see A. Kozloff and D.G. Mitten, The Gods Delight: The Human Figure in Classical Bronze, Cleveland, 1988, no. 21), and probably cradled a cornucopia. Also like the Cleveland bronze, this statue has a hole on the top of the head, just behind the bound-up forelock, which probably received a pshent, the crown of Upper and Lower Egypt.
Of the statues of Harpocrates preserved, the majority incorporate the gesture of the right index finger held to the lips. A marble statue in the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, may represent Harpocrates (illustrated in H. Hoffmann, Ten Centuries that Shaped the West: Greek and Roman Art in Texas Collections, Houston, 1971, no. 13). The grapes and the dove are both associated with his cultic rites. It would seem that these attributes outweighed the need for his hand gesture. The missing attributes of this sculpture probably filled a similar need, either to identify or emphasise a particular aspect of his divinity.
A bronze in the Ashmolean Museum is recorded as the largest Cupid found in Britain. It stands about 40cm. tall and probably dates to the 2nd Century A.D. The Cleveland Harpocrates, which is dated as late Hellenistic, is 27cm. tall. The size and superb quality of this bronze suggest that it was made in a major urban centre, probably in Asia Minor
In this example, just below the left shoulder, a faintly indented band may indicate that a bracelet once encircled his arm above the biceps. Often Hellenistic Erotes were festooned with all manner of bracelets, such as the terracotta from Myrina in Asia Minor now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (see Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae, 1981, no. 959a). Such adornments are unusual on sculptures of Harpocrates, but a bronze in the Walters Art Gallery does have triple bands encircling each ankle (illustrated in the Catalogue of Classical Bronze Sculpture in the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, 1949, no. 74).
The right hand hangs at his side, and the curled fingers indicate that an object was once held in his hand. The left shoulder is drawn back. The missing arm may have been crooked, as it is on the Cleveland bronze (see A. Kozloff and D.G. Mitten, The Gods Delight: The Human Figure in Classical Bronze, Cleveland, 1988, no. 21), and probably cradled a cornucopia. Also like the Cleveland bronze, this statue has a hole on the top of the head, just behind the bound-up forelock, which probably received a pshent, the crown of Upper and Lower Egypt.
Of the statues of Harpocrates preserved, the majority incorporate the gesture of the right index finger held to the lips. A marble statue in the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, may represent Harpocrates (illustrated in H. Hoffmann, Ten Centuries that Shaped the West: Greek and Roman Art in Texas Collections, Houston, 1971, no. 13). The grapes and the dove are both associated with his cultic rites. It would seem that these attributes outweighed the need for his hand gesture. The missing attributes of this sculpture probably filled a similar need, either to identify or emphasise a particular aspect of his divinity.
A bronze in the Ashmolean Museum is recorded as the largest Cupid found in Britain. It stands about 40cm. tall and probably dates to the 2nd Century A.D. The Cleveland Harpocrates, which is dated as late Hellenistic, is 27cm. tall. The size and superb quality of this bronze suggest that it was made in a major urban centre, probably in Asia Minor