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Bust of Saturn
Roman Provincial
Imperial Period
2nd century A.D.
Medium/Technique
Marble from Mt. Filfila, northeastern Algeria
Dimensions
Height: 42 cm (16 9/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Rowland, Jr.
Accession Number65.1727
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsSculpture
Catalogue Raisonné
Sculpture in Stone (MFA), no. 367; Sculpture in Stone and Bronze (MFA), p. 115 (additional published references).
DescriptionThe seated god wears his himation as a veil, part falling or being brought across the lap. Saturn, a god of harvests, carries in his right hand a sickle—his typical attribute. His cult was popular in the rich agricultural communities of North Africa. In these formerly Carthaginian areas, the god was identified with Baal Hammon, the supreme divinity of Carthage.
The god's right arm is mostly missing; the left, now lost, was doweled on with an iron pin and was probably raised to touch the veil. The back of the statue was worked to be set against a niche or a high-backed throne, and the bottom was fashioned for insertion in the draped lower limbs, which are missing. The nose and other secondary details have suffered damage, and areas of the surface have remains of gray to very light yellow deposit. The god has a drilled-out beard and hair. Red paint is visible at the mouth’s right corner.
Scientific Analysis:
Harvard Lab No. HI263: Isotope ratios - delta13C +2.85 / delta18O -3.37, Attribution - Probably Mt. Filfila, Algeria, Justification - isotopes; some gray spots, fine grained, from Algeria.
The god's right arm is mostly missing; the left, now lost, was doweled on with an iron pin and was probably raised to touch the veil. The back of the statue was worked to be set against a niche or a high-backed throne, and the bottom was fashioned for insertion in the draped lower limbs, which are missing. The nose and other secondary details have suffered damage, and areas of the surface have remains of gray to very light yellow deposit. The god has a drilled-out beard and hair. Red paint is visible at the mouth’s right corner.
Scientific Analysis:
Harvard Lab No. HI263: Isotope ratios - delta13C +2.85 / delta18O -3.37, Attribution - Probably Mt. Filfila, Algeria, Justification - isotopes; some gray spots, fine grained, from Algeria.
ProvenanceSaid to have come from El Djem, Tunisia [see note]. About 1956, purchased on the Paris art market by Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Rowland, Jr., Cambridge, MA; 1965, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Rowland, Jr. to the MFA. (Accession Date: December 27, 1965)
NOTE: According to the Museum’s records at the time of acquisition.
NOTE: According to the Museum’s records at the time of acquisition.