Getty Museum

Fragment of a Statuette of an Eagle and Stag's Head on top of a Stepped Pyramid

Date

2nd–3rd century A.D.

Medium

Bronze

Culture

Roman

Department

Sculpture

Institution

Getty Museum

This hollow bronze statuette depicts an eagle perched on the head of a stag; both are mounted on a stepped pyramid. The wings of the eagle are closed and its feet are placed between the antlers, which project on either side of the stag’s head. The composition is a well-known variation on the motif of an eagle perched on a quadruped (usually a bull or stag), which was common in ancient Near Eastern religious iconography and can be traced back to the Bronze Age. Most examples of this motif in the Roman period are small bronzes that seem to have originated in Anatolia (present-day Turkey) and northern Syria. The Getty statuette, which dates to the 2nd or 3rd century A.D., is an abbreviated type that reproduces only the head of the stag instead of the complete animal. The motif of the eagle and stag is typically associated with Jupiter Dolichenus, the Roman version of the local god Baal of the city of Doliche, Commagene (present-day Dülük in Turkey). Worship of this deity found a special place among the Roman military. By the 2nd century A.D., the cult of Jupiter Dolichenus had spread from the eastern Mediterranean to Rome and other areas of the Roman Empire, especially those along the garrisoned frontiers. The god, depicted in numerous stone reliefs and statues, was customarily represented wearing Roman military dress and standing on the back of a bull. It is consistent therefore for the eagle, a symbol of Jupiter himself, to replace the image of the god. Although almost all of the examples of the eagle and stag motif are small bronzes without inscriptions, the relationship with Jupiter Dolichenus is confirmed by an inscribed marble sculpture of an eagle on a stag’s head discovered in the sanctuary of the deity on the Esquiline Hill in Rome. An inscription on the statue reveals that it was dedicated to Jupiter Dolichenus by a soldier of the Misenum fleet. While the arrangement of the eagle and stag of the Getty statuette derives from a well-established iconographic tradition, the distinctive pyramidal base is unusual. Pedestals of various shapes support the animals in similar examples, but the stepped profile of the Getty statuette’s base is found in only a few instances. Its mountain-like appearance may be symbolic of the worship of Jupiter on such high places, and there are numerous bronze statuettes that depict an eagle perched on a mountaintop instead of on a stag or bull. All of these small bronzes probably functioned as votive objects, dedicated as offerings to the gods. Although the only determinable context of the eagle and stag motif is the Jupiter Dolichenus cult, this does not mean that the image was tied exclusively to this deity.

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