Head of Serapis
Second half of the II century. Marble.Not on display
This head carved from bigio morato marble is broken into two parts, vertically. Its restoration required several additions, both to finish various curls and to reconstruct the top of the head, where a relatively well-disguised piece of gray marble is visible. The incrusted eyes are of white marble with nero antico pupils. The base is of gray-veined white marble. The figure´s identity has varied considerably and continues to do so. It may be the testa di Seneca di pietra paragone listed in the inventory of Christina of Sweden (no. 82) but it was then undocumented until it appeared in La Granja in the mid 17th century. It appears in the Ajello Sketchbook (drawing no. 53) and in the inventories of Charles III. Once in Madrid, it was listed in the Museo del Prado´s1849-1857 inventory as Jupiter, while Hübner though it was either of that god or of Pluto. In his handwritten comentaries on the Ajello Notebook, B. Vicens more accurately considers it an effigy of either Serapis or Bacchus, but Barrón prefers to follow Hübner. Finally, Blanco correctly identifies it as Serapis, a Greco-Egyptian god represented according to its Roman iconography and created during the period of Hadrian (117-138 A. D.). Bigio morato marble can have white veins, and is therefore called bianco e nero d´Egippo, although the location of its quarry is unknown. In any case, it was extensively used for sculptures from the 2nd century, A.D., especially those in Hadrian´s villa in Tivoli, which were made during his reign (Text from Elvira Barba, M. A.: Escultura clásica. Guía, Museo Nacional del Prado, 1999, p. 112).