Antiquities and Ancient Art

Provenance:

Private Collection, Europe, 18th Century. [based on restoration technique]

Art Market, Rome, by 1934.

Galerie Altmann Antiquité, Nice, France.

Sotheby's, New York, Egyptian, Classical, and Western Asiatic Antiquities, 5 June 2013, Lot 39.

Phoenix Ancient Art, New York, 2016 (Phoenix Ancient Art, vol. 32, p. 46, no. 12).

Sotheby's, London, Ancient Sculpture and Works of Art, 4 December 2018, Lot 31.

Acquired by the present owner from the above.

Published:

For 'Rome's Photograph Library Record' (neg. no. 34.1677) at the Deutsches Archäologisches Instituts, see Arachne Online Database: 1104914

[https://arachne.dainst.org/entity/1104914?fl=20]

This finely carved Roman marble head, datable to the 1st–2nd Century A.D., represents an Olympian deity—likely Jupiter or Neptune—modeled in a tradition rooted in Classical Greek prototypes yet distinctly Roman in execution. The voluminous hair, centrally parted with two anastole-like locks and encircled by a diadem, along with the luxuriant beard ending in voluted curls, aligns closely with known monumental types. Secure identification remains elusive without the addition of attributes such as the eagle or trident. Nevertheless, the present sculpture embodies the Roman tendency to imbue divine figures with a tempered majesty—an aesthetic choice reflecting broader cultural values under the early Empire. As Cicero observed, "We behold the majesty of the gods through the image of serene countenance and noble form" (De Natura Deorum 2.70), a sentiment materialized in this work's idealized yet approachable features.

Typologically, the head exemplifies a hybridization of iconographic traditions: while Greek portrayals of Zeus emphasized overwhelming grandeur, Roman representations like this introduced a subtle introspection, aligning divine power with Imperial ideals of wisdom and clemency. The mounting of the head onto an 18th-century bust, coupled with its documentation by the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut in 1934, underscores its long presence within the European art market.

For a closely related type, see Staatliche Museen, Berlin (Inv. no. SK291), and Louvre, Paris (Inv. no. Ma 13).