A ROMAN BRONZE JUPITER

CIRCA 1ST CENTURY B.C.-1ST CENTURY A.D.

Details

A ROMAN BRONZE JUPITER
CIRCA 1ST CENTURY B.C.-1ST CENTURY A.D.
Classicizing in style, the god depicted nude, standing with his weight on his right leg, his left leg relaxed and bent at the knee, his right arm bent and held out before him with the palm open, his left arm lowered, his hand at his hip, the fingers delicately curled, his hair brushed forward and held in a band, layers of curls surrounding his face, wearing a long beard of individual wavy locks, the eyes inlaid in silver, the pupils articulated
5 1/8 in. (13 cm.) high

Provenance

with Atlantis Antiquities, New York, 1989 (Ars and Texnh, no. 9).
Anonymous sale; Hesperia Arts Auction, Ltd., New York, 27 November 1990, part II, lot 15.
with Royal-Athena Galleries, New York, 1991 (Art of the Ancient World, vol. VI, part 2, no. 28).

Lot Essay

This Jupiter type is roughly based on the colossal bronze Zeus by Myron that stood with Athena and Herakles in the Heraion on Samos. The Zeus was brought to Rome by Antony and was erected by Augustus in a small temple on the Capitoline Hill, inspiring variations and interpretations of the type, which were ubiquitous in the early Roman Period. See no. 127ff. in Tiverios, "Zeus" in LIMC.

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