Further images
Solid cast bronze statuette of Jupiter (Zeus to the Greeks), with remains of gilding, which would have covered his whole body, and been a highly suitable decorative embellishment for the supreme deity, shining in the light. The king of the gods is shown nude, open-toed sandals protect his feet, a thunderbolt in his relaxed right hand, a simple fillet bound around his head. Jupiter’s body is lithe and muscular, showing the strength of an older man, his iliac crest pronounced. His open mouth is framed by a thick moustache and a beard of curling locks, thick curly hair creates a border around the top of his head, his eye with two incised dots for the pupils. The left arm was perhaps separately cast as there is no hole where the arm is now missing. Restoration to the torso.
This type is a copy of the colossal bronze statue of Zeus by Myron, which once stood with the statues of Athena and Herakles in a Heraion on Samos, and was transferred to Rome by Anthony in the 1st century BC, and later set up in a small temple on the Capitoline Hill by Augustus. In this type, the left, bent arm (missing in the present example) would have held a sceptre, and a himation would have been draped over the shoulder.
Provenance
R.S.L. collection, London, UK; acquired prior to 2000Accompanied by letters from the relevant Greek and Italian authorities renouncing any current or future claim over this piece.
