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The Nile
Cat. 2300
This colossal statue of the Nile was found in 1513 in Campo Marzio where it was probably part of the decoration of the Iseo Campense, dedicated to the Egyptian deities Isis and Serapis.
The river is shown as a venerable old man stretched out on his side with a cornucopia of fruit in his left arm and ears of wheat in his right hand.
Egypt is represented by the presence of a sphinx, on which the figure of the Nile supports himself, and by some exotic animals.
The scene is enlivened by sixteen children who allude to the sixteen cubits of water by which the Nile rises for its annual flood.
The base of the statue is decorated with a Nile landscape with pygmies, hippopotamus and crocodiles.
The sculpture was probably inspired by a monumental statue of the Nile in black basalt, a masterpiece of Alexandrian Greek sculpture, which Pliny the Elder described as being within the Forum of Peace.
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