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

2nd–3rd century A.D.

Medium

Bronze

Dimensions

1 × 1 cm

Status

In Museum Collection

Collect24 Art ID

C24-226318

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 alo…