Bronze Statuette of a Pontifex Maximus

Culture: Roman

Period: 1st to early 2nd century A.D.

Material: Bronze

Dimensions: 12.3 cm high

Price: Sold

Ref: 3447

Provenance: From an old Japanese private collection, thence Mansour Gallery, London. There in 2013 acquired by an English collector. With an expertise from the University Ferrara of 21 June 2021.

Condition: The attribute in the left hand only fragmentarily preserved. On the back a small closed area in the surface, otherwise very beautifully preserved.

Description: Important bronze statuette of a pontifex maximus filled with lead. The high priest wears a tunic and a long toga (capite velato) of the Imperial period pulled over his head. The toga runs horizontally and is thrown over his belly and over the left shoulder and left arm. Both arms are bent and stretched forward. In the right hand the pontifex holds an offering bowl ("patera"), in his left the handle of another cult object is recognizable. The figure stands with its weight on the left leg, the right one slightly angled backwards. The high priest wears closed boots ("calcei"). The pontifex maximus was the highest ranking in the priest’s college of the pontifices in the Roman Imperium. Since Augustus all Roman emperors held this office until Christianisation. On an old wood base. With an old collection box.