Bust of a Zeus Serapis by Unknown Artist

Bust of a Zeus Serapis by Unknown Artist, late 1st century

© British Museum

Details

Medium:

Bronze

Dimensions:

19 cm

Art Fund grant:

£1,000 ( Total: £3,500)

Acquired in:

1970

Vendor:

Robin Symes

The shape points to a date in the second half of the first century AD, but the head reproduces a sculptural type of the fourth century BC which has been plausibly attributed to Bryaxis, one of the artists who worked on the Mausoleum. The prototype represented Zeus, but, given its Egyptian provenance, this bronze is more likely to represent the Alexandrian deity Serapis, who is often iconographically indistinguishable from Zeus.

Provenance

Mr Robin Symes