Details

LOT 0135

Roman Bronze Figure of Jupiter as Zeus Brontaios

1ST-2ND CENTURY A.D.

6 1/8 in. (384 grams total, 15.5 cm high including stand).

Depicted nude in contrapposto pose, his weight on his right leg, the left leg flexed and advancing; the hair and beard formed as a dense mass of curls; a full beard complementing his luxuriant curls; slender, muscular body with defined anatomical details; mounted on a custom-made display stand.

Provenance

with Münzen und Medaillen AG, Basel, 02.1976, lot 51.
Acquired in Europe in 2017.

Accompanied by copies of relevant pages of Münzen und Medaillen AG.
Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.11792-206488.

Literature

See no.195a in Leventi, 'Zeus' in LIMC and nos.243-244 in Leventi and Machaira, 'Zeus' in LIMC; Christie's, Antiquities, New York, 4 June 2008, lot 255; the type is also visible in various statues of Zeus, for example an example in the Cabinet Des Medailles, published in Rolley, C.I., Monumenta Graeca et Romana; volume V : Les arts mineurs grecs; fascicule 1: Les Bronzes, Paris, 1967, pl.30; Rolland, H., Bronzes Antiques de Haute Provence, XVIII supplément à ‘Gallia’, Paris, 1965, no.15; Jongkees, J.H., Jongkees-Vos, M.F., in Varia Archaeologica, Ter Burg, 1971, pp.25ff.

Footnotes

The prototype of Zeus Brontaios, or Zeus the Thunderer, has been attributed to a Greek original by sculptor Leochares, c. 370-360 B.C. The statue was realised by Leochares to celebrate the founding of Megalopolis, in 371 B.C. The god would have held a sceptre in his left hand and cradled his thunderbolt in his right.