拍品专文
This large and powerful bust, perhaps representing a river god, depicts the deity with a massive beard formed of thick, serpentine locks - incised and deeply drilled - and long, wavy, center-parted hair pulled back and secured by a fillet and tied at the back of the head. According to C. Weiss (p. 139 in LIMC, vol. IV), river gods (fluvii), “ranked among the most important nature deities. Their role as life-giving…made them the object of worship both as individual local entities and as overarching river gods. Cults to these gods were often associated with agriculture, animal husbandry, natural borders, harbors, or as transportation routes, and thus held regional significance.” In Roman art, the most frequently-depicted type is the reclining figure, often shown holding a cornucopia and in the presence of other attributes and symbolic features unique to their local contexts (see Weiss, op. cit., p. 148). In the present example, the shoulders, with the proper right higher than left, indicates that this bust may originate from that context.
For related and complete examples of river gods, see the personifications of the Tiber, nos. 15, 17, and 18 in R. Mambella, "Tiberis, Tiberinus," LIMC, vol. VIII, and for other rivers, nos. 45 and 46 in Weiss, op. cit.
For related and complete examples of river gods, see the personifications of the Tiber, nos. 15, 17, and 18 in R. Mambella, "Tiberis, Tiberinus," LIMC, vol. VIII, and for other rivers, nos. 45 and 46 in Weiss, op. cit.