STATUARIA ROMANA ANTICA al Museo Metropolitano, New York -- Marble head of GIOVE.

Speranza

Marble head of Zeus Ammon
Period: Imperial
Date: ca. A.D. 120–160 A.D.
Culture: Roman
Medium: Marble
Dimensions: H. from base: 48.2 cm.
Classification: Stone Sculpture
Credit Line: Purchase, Philodoroi Gifts, Acquisitions Fund, Mary and Michael Jaharis Gift, 2011 Benefit Fund, funds from various donors, John A. Moran, John J. Medveckis, Nicholas S. Zoullas,  Frederick W. Beinecke, Leon Levy Foundation, Jonathan Rosen, Michael Steinhardt, Malcolm Hewitt Wiener Foundation and Aso O. Tavitian Gifts, 2012
Accession Number: 2012.22
This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 160

Zeus Ammon’s sanctuary at the Oasis of Siwa in the Libyan desert was already famous when Alexander the Great made his pilgrimage there in 331 B.C.

Alexander’s visit to Siwa was a pivotal moment in the young king’s extraordinary life.

The details are shrouded in mystery, but legend has it that the Oracle proclaimed him son of Zeus Ammon and answered Alexander’s questions favorably, “to his heart’s desire.”
This powerful portrait of the god combines a classical image of the bearded Zeus with the ram’s horns of the Egyptian Ammon, an attribute with which Alexander himself was sometimes represented. It may well reflect a sculpture created in Egypt in the years after Alexander’s historic visit to Siwa.

The head is said to have been discovered at the mouth of the Nile River, Egypt (Sotheby’s, New York. Sale catalogue, November 1985, lot 50)

By 1931, art market, Rome
Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Rome, neg. nos. 80.2846-2847.

Until 1954, collection of Ernst Leroy King, Homer, Minnesota, and Daytona Beach, Florida.

1954, acquired by the Art League of Daytona Beach, Florida, gift of Mrs. E.L. King.

1954-1985, collection of the Art League of Daytona Beach, Florida.

1985, purchased by Dodie Rosekrans through Sotheby’s, New York (lot 50).

1985-2011, collection of Dodie Rosekrans, San Francisco.

March 2007-April 2008, on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Acquired in December 2011, purchased through Sotheby’s, New York (lot 12).
References
Sotheby’s, New York. Sale catalogue, November 1985, lot 50.

Fuchs, Michaela. 1992. Römische Ideal plastik. München: C.H. Beck, pp. 214-215, note 39.

Sotheby’s, New York. Sale Catalogue, December 2011, lot 12.

Picon, C. 2012.
"Recent Acquisitions, A Selection: 2010-2012."
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 70, pp. 12-13.