Roman Votive Hand to God Sabazios

2ND-3RD CENTURY A.D.

4 3/4 in. (362 grams, 12.1 cm).

Hollow-formed right hand from a statuette, with fingers splayed and flat palm, good anatomical detailing.

Provenance

Private collection 1990s.
Ex London, UK, gallery.

Literature

Cf. Ersöz, S.B., ‘The hand gesture and symbols of Sabazios’ in Opuscula, Annual of the Swedish Institutes at Athens and Rome, 11, 2018, figs.1, 4, 7, 11, 12.

Footnotes

The votive character of the hand could link it to the God Sabazios, often associated with a number of archaeological finds depicting a bronze, right hand in the benedictio latina gesture. The hand appears to have had ritual significance and may have been affixed to a sceptre (as the one carried by Sabazios on a slab, one from Philippopolis, nowadays Plovdiv in Bulgaria). The association with Sabazios is sometimes suggested in similar hands, by the presence of a snake embossed around the circumference of the hand, because the iconic image of the god or hero on horseback battling the chthonic serpent, appears on Celtic-Roman votive columns, and with the coming of Christianity it was easily adapted to the representations of Saint George fighting the Dragon.

CONDITION

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LOT 0131