A large Roman bronze Attis

A large Roman bronze Attis
Circa 2nd Century A.D.
The god depicted standing with arms outstretched, holding a pair of paddles or clappers, wearing a billowing tunic tucked into characteristic belted oriental trousers, his curled locks arranged in two tiers, tendrils falling onto his shoulders, 31cm high

Provenance:
Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 8 April 1998, lot 214.
with Royal-Athena Galleries, New York, 2007.
Private collection, Paris, acquired from the above.

For a larger complete marble statuette of Attis, with similar trousers, which are pinned down the middle at the front of the legs, and a similarly exposed torso, see the Uffizi Gallery, Florence, inv. no. 84.

Originating in Phrygia in the East, the cult of Attis spread across the Mediterranean, first to Greece and then onward to Rome. The priests who attended to his temples were eunuchs, as Attis castrated and killed himself in a fit of madness caused by a jealous Cybele, the Mother goddess. Upon realising she had killed her lover, Cybele pleaded with the Olympians and they preserved his body eternally in a youthful state. Through his self-mutilation, death and resurrection Attis is also seen to represent the fruits of the earth, which die in winter only to rise again in the spring.