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Lot Essay
Ptolemy II Philadelphos came to the throne of Egypt as co-ruler in 285 B.C. at the age of 25. To celebrate his accession he staged an elaborate pageant, which included music, images of Egyptian and Greek gods, and a long train of wild beasts and birds unknown to Egypt, including elephants harnessed to chariots. He enriched the city of Alexandria with a lavish building program in an effort to make the new city a cultural rival to Athens, which included the completion of the famed library, the greatest of the Hellenistic world. He was first married to Arsinoe I, daughter of Lysimachus of Thrace, who bore him three children, but she was later accused of treason and banished to Coptos. Her accuser was Ptolemy's sister, also named Arsinoe (II), who later married her brother. Egypt prospered and expanded during his thirty-eight year reign. He died in 246 B.C., aged about 60, and was succeeded by his son, Ptolemy III Euergetes (see Davis and Kraay, The Hellenistic Kingdoms, Portrait Coins and History, pp. 151-158).
When it comes to the identification of Greek style portraits of the Ptolemies, scholarly opinion can range from succinct to vague, especially for the followers of Ptolemy I Soter of the 3rd century B.C. The problem with the identification is that there is a strong family resemblance across generations, coupled with the fact that later rulers assimilate their own images with that of the founder of the dynasty. The only portrait of Ptolemy II Philadelphos that can be identified with complete certainty is on a gold octadrachm minted in Alexandria during the mid 3rd century B.C. by his son Ptolemy III, where he is shown jugate with his queen Arsinoe II. For the coin portrait see pl. 18 in Davis and Kraay, op. cit. Several portraits in the round, including the marble example presented here, recall his coin portrait and on that basis have been assigned to Ptolemy II Philadelphos. For a marble head from Hermopolis, now in the Louvre, see no. 7 in Walker and Higgs, Cleopatra of Egypt, From History to Myth; and for a small limestone head in the Museum of Alexandria see figs. 1795-1797 in Richter, The Portraits of the Greeks.
When it comes to the identification of Greek style portraits of the Ptolemies, scholarly opinion can range from succinct to vague, especially for the followers of Ptolemy I Soter of the 3rd century B.C. The problem with the identification is that there is a strong family resemblance across generations, coupled with the fact that later rulers assimilate their own images with that of the founder of the dynasty. The only portrait of Ptolemy II Philadelphos that can be identified with complete certainty is on a gold octadrachm minted in Alexandria during the mid 3rd century B.C. by his son Ptolemy III, where he is shown jugate with his queen Arsinoe II. For the coin portrait see pl. 18 in Davis and Kraay, op. cit. Several portraits in the round, including the marble example presented here, recall his coin portrait and on that basis have been assigned to Ptolemy II Philadelphos. For a marble head from Hermopolis, now in the Louvre, see no. 7 in Walker and Higgs, Cleopatra of Egypt, From History to Myth; and for a small limestone head in the Museum of Alexandria see figs. 1795-1797 in Richter, The Portraits of the Greeks.