CIRCA 2ND CENTURY A.D.

Details

A ROMAN BRONZE SERAPIS
CIRCA 2ND CENTURY A.D.
Depicted with the characteristic full curly forked beard and long downturned mustache, his wavy hair falling to his shoulders, a fringe of four vertical locks across his forehead, wearing a tunic with well-defined folds under a mantle draped over his left shoulder, his head surmounted by a tall conical modius decorated with olive branches, the bust emerging from an acanthus stemmed foot
4½ in. (11.4 cm.) high

Provenance

Freiburg Private Collection, late 1980s.
with Royal-Athena Galleries, New York, 2007.

Brought to you by

G. Max Bernheimer

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Lot Essay

This bust is based on the colossal statue of Serapis sculpted by Bryaxis in the early 3rd century B.C. for the temple at Alexandria. Copies of this renowned sculpture were created in a variety of materials and sizes. The refurbishment of this statue by the Roman Emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century A.D. probably contributed to the popularity of Serapis and the demand for small-scale images during this period.

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