Statuette of Jupiter

The sculpture depicts the nude figure of the god Jupiter standing with his weight on the right leg. His face is framed by the thick wavy locks of his hair and by the corkscrew curls of his beard. The eyes have sharply cut lids and drilled irises, possibly for inlay. His left arm is raised, undoubtedly to hold a scepter, the symbol of his power as king of the gods, while his right arm is lowered and held out away from his body. The right hand probably originally held the thunderbolt, the attribute of the god of the sky.

The statuette derives from the now lost statue of Zeus Brontaios (the Thunderer), created by the Greek sculptor Leochares in the mid-300s B.C. In style, this figurine presents a notable combination of features. The definition of the ribs and muscles is typically Hellenistic, while the rolled-up ends of the mustache find parallels with early imperial archaistic works.