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Lot 1837
Choice Bust of Serapis, in Alabaster. Rome, c. late 2nd - early 3rd century AD. Portrait of the god rendered as a bust only, perhaps once atop a globe, on integral base. Serapis is shown as being rather broad-shouldered, with cloak and tunic. The distinctive measuring utensil, the modius, or kalathos in Greek, one of his attributes and a symbol of abundance and fertility surmounts his head in the manner of a crown. His hair style is very mannered, and beautifully rendered, with tasteful and decorative use of the drill (used sparingly). The Serapis here is the second of the two main portrait types -- with symmetrically arranged twisted coils of hair depending over the forehead. More interesting is the almost acanthus-pattern arrangement of five locks at the center bottom of the beard, nearly repeated with the center curls at the back of the head. His features are compact on a fairly broad face, with smallish nose. There is a glimmer of a smile in the mouth. The eyes, a trifle worn, nevertheless show the iris and pupil. Chipping to one side of the bust's forward edge, along with wear and chipping to the modius. Overall the piece is sharp, with the head and hair complete. Fine, sensitive workmanship, treated with stylistic flair. An excellent portrait! Height: 7"; on custom base.
Estimated Value $15,000 - 17,500.
Serapis was the patron god of Septimius Severus, who was the first Roman Emperor to originate from an African province (born in Leptis Magna, on the north African coast, some miles from modern day Tripoli). After 200 AD, Severus began employing the god's attributes of the forehead locks in his own hair style and official images, thus emphasizing his connection with the popular deity. Examples of Serapis portraits are also known where the features of the emperor have been conflated with those of the god. Such may well be the case with this alabaster piece. Comparing facial traits of the bust here with a sculpture of Severus in the National Museum at Naples, one sees closely similar features, and again, the bemused expression, even though this bust lacks the pendant curls of hair over the forehead. For that image type with the forehead locks, note Severus' busts in the British museum and especially the Uffizi, where the emperor's expression is again rather amiable, like that seen in the above alabaster.
The god Serapis was a Ptolemaic invention -- a fusion of Egyptian and Greek religious concepts current in Alexandria where Ptolemy I started this cult.
On his Egyptian side, Serapis was associated with Isis in his capacity as Osiris, her consort, and the Apis bull, formerly an avatar of Ptah, but later an incarnation of Osiris ("Apis was a fair and beautiful image of the soul of Osiris"). On his Greek side, he is associated with Zeus, Hades, and Aesculapius. Even though Serapis had roots in both cultures, he was always depicted as a god in the Greek manner: with the long face, heavy curled beard, a moustache with curled ends, and five locks of hair falling over the forehead. His worship continued through the Roman period and his temples spread throughout the Roman Empire, and was promulgated especially toward the military under the official patronage of the Severans.
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