Statue of one of the Dioscuri with the...

Statue of one of the Dioscuri with the features of Alexander the Great. His hair composed of long locks is topped with a felt cap (pilos). A star that has now disappeared was attached to it. Indeed, the two Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux, represented the constellation of Gemini. A temple in Rome near the Forum had been erected for them. They protected merchants, travellers and sailors. His chlamyd rests on his shoulders and is held by a circular fibula. He was leaning against an anatomical cuirass.
Two statues of the same type representing the two divine brothers were to be placed on either side of a horse.
It can be assumed that this iconography dates from the period of Emperor Septimius Severus when his children Geta and Caracalla, then Caesars, were assimilated to demigods and presumed to reign together. This will never be the case, because upon the death of her father, Caracalla will have her brother murdered.
Marble.
North African workshops, probably during the Severe Dynasty, between 193 and 235 BC.
H: 55 cm

Old collection of a French officer, before 1980.
Passport: 124062
Art Loss: S00064824
Comparative Bibliography: Copies designed on the same model kept at the Ny Carlsberg Glyptothèque in Copenhagen (no. 505), and at the Louvre (inv. no. cp 6510 and 6509). Automatically translated by DeepL. To see the original version, click here.