Marble Bust of a Hermaphrodite with the Features of Alexander the Great

Culture: Roman

Period: 2nd century A.D.

Material: Marble

Dimensions: 48.5 cm high

Price: Sold

Ref: 3352

Provenance: Sotheby’s London 12 June 1967, lot 115. Sotheby’s London 1 July 1969, lot 253. Thence Royal Athena Gallery, New York. Private collection Dr. Emilio Rotello, Barcelona, 1970. Thence in a private collection in Barcelona. Auction Delorme & Collin du Bocage on 1 August 2011, lot 57. Last in a French private collection. Accompanied by a French antiquities passport.

Condition: The nose slightly worn, a closed crack above the left breast, another one on the left shoulder to the right breast. Some minor wear restored, in total in a very good condition with a graceful expression.

Description: Bust of fine crystalline marble with the face of a young man depicting features of Alexander the Great. The hair in thick curls, parted in the centre and falling over the ears and the back of the head. The gentle and almond-shaped eyes looking out from thick lids. The mouth finely curved and closed. On the neck two horizontal wrinkles. The upper body with its soft curves and female breasts disclose the bust as a hermaphrodite. Hermaphroditus is a youth, who was the son of Aphrodite and Hermes. With the help of the gods his body was merged with the one of the nymph Salmacis. The depiction of Hermaphroditus as Alexander suggests a workshop in Alexandria, where the cult surrounding Alexander experienced a new heyday in Roman period. Mounted.