MORTALS & IMORTALSThe private collection of Rodrigo Bonzanini

This catalogue is a compilation of historical sculptures and other pieces of art from

acient Egypt, Greece and Rome.

From the private collection of Rodrigo Bonzanini.

Graphic Design – Gustavo Borges / gusborges.com

Photography – Francisca Guzman & Gustavo Borges

MORTALS & IMORTALSThe private collection of Rodrigo Bonzanini

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“All things are full of Gods…”Thales of Miletus

ART BETWEEN MORTALS AND IMMORTALS

Since the beginning of time, man has pondered over the question of the divine. In the Gods, immortal and powerful beings above and beyond him, man saw expressed the primordial forces of nature and gave them anthropomorphic form. These Gods are full of

human nature and emotions; love, anger, jealousy, courage, and even fear, all amplified to their supernatural power of a race of immortal beings. Man would offer sacrifice to them in exchange for assistance, protection and support.

After attending to his material needs, early man sought spiritual satisfaction through the artistic expression of divinity in the form of engraving and painting on the walls of his shelter or cave.

As ideas of spirituality developed, such representations became more complex, beginning with simple cult objects, wooden xoana, and continued onwards to paintings and to reliefs and sculptures in terra-cotta, bronze, stone and marble, till these works reach an exquisite level of craftsmanship. The subject was and would remain a divinity (or a victorious athlete represented as a type and not as an individual) up to the fourth century B.C.

Each God has his own conventional representation which would remain the same as time passed and which corresponded to whatever function a worshipper or artist might have thought appropriate. In order that one deity might be distinguished from another, every God has his own attributes corresponding to function: Zeus has his thunderbolt, Poseidon his trident, Apollo his lyre, Artemis her bow and arrows, Hermes his winged bonnet and herald’s wand (caduceus), Asklepios his staff with snake, Herakles his club and lion skin, and so on.

Now these objects of art, crafted by our ancestors thousand of years ago and belonging after all to the Gods themselves, are in our hands. With their beauty, refinement, their aura of mystery and profound meaning, they are able to speak to our imagination about a time when the distance between Gods and man was much thinner than today.

In Antiquity the Gods were not only objects of cult or religion but rather an integral part of human life. You could have no banquet without Dionysos, no love without Aphrodite, no health without Asklepios, and no home with fireplace without Hestia.

To collect, preserve and display such ancient works of art is surround ourselves with eternally satisfying beauty, but at the same time, it is to bring back our Gods from their exile under the earth, some buried in the desert sands, some even from the bottom of the sea, to bring them back to light, to life with they worshippers to which they belong.

G oddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite was born from the sea foam, formed from the genitals of her father Ouranos, mutilated

by Kronos. She was married to Hephaistos, but have an eternal love affair with Ares, and with some mortals in the past, like the hero Anchises, father of Aeneas.

As told by the poet Hesiod, she was said to have arrived in Olympus from Chitera and Cyprus, thus, her sanctuaries spread from there. In very early Archaic art she sometimes appears naked like her Oriental counterpart Astarte, but from the sixth to the fourth century B.C, she wears beautiful clothes, precious jewelry, and often holds a sceptre. Then the painter Apples and the sculptor Praxiteles and many artists after them showed Aphrodite without clothing, she would either be rising newly born from sea foam or preparing for bathing. In Hellenistic and Roman times, nakedness became her main attribute, though she can also appear fully dressed. She likes incense and sometimes holds a mirror. Her holy birds are sparrows, doves and geese. She is often accompanied by the always young winged God of love, Eros.

APHRODITE / VENUS

Roman bronze statuette of Venus, Aphrodite Anadyomene,Circa 1st - 2nd century A.D.The Goddess of Love is shown just after rising from the sea foam at the shores of Cyprus, drying her tresses and already fair-wreathed. 13cm high.

Roman marble Venus, Aphrodite“Sandal-binder”,

Circa 1st - 2nd century A.D.Based on an Hellenistic Original, this statue captures the

Goddess of Love in the final preparations for her bath, with all her clothing removed but for her sandals. According to

the 18th century Italian sculptor Bartolomeo Cavaceppi, who had a similar sculpture in his collection (now in the British

Museum), this type of Aphrodite was the most beautiful and inspiring creation of all times. 46cm high.

APHRODITE / VENUS

Hellenistic marble head of Aphrodite,Circa 2nd - 1st century B.C.7cm high.

“…a white foam from the immortal skin began to arise. In it, a maiden was nurtured. First, she drew near holy Kythera, and from there she arrived at Kypros surrounded by water. From within, a majestic and beautiful Goddess stepped … Aphrodite, foam-born Goddess and fair-wreathed Kythereia, Gods and men call her…” (Theogony, 190 - 197)

Roman marble head of Venus,Circa 1st - early 2nd century A.D.

The downward gaze of this Aphrodite shows us a very subtle pathos, what, together with her hairstyle, finds close similarity to the Capitoline Venus, which is probably based on a 4th century B.C. prototype by Skopas of Paros, one of the masters of the transitional period between the serene high classical style and the Hellenistic full of emotion. She is an example of the refined workmanship, beauty and idealized naturalism of sculpture of the period. The deep craving of the marble in her sensuously tactile hair shows us the Roman taste for the chiaroscuro, proving that this is a Roman Imperial work rather than a Hellenistic original. 29cm high.

Roman marble statuette of Venus,Circa 1st - 2nd century A.D.After the Aphrodite of Knidos, one of the most venerated sculptures of the ancient world, created by the master Praxiteles to be the first cult-statue of the Goddess to show her in splendid nudity while preparing for her bath. 33cm high.

Roman marble relief with head of Orpheus,Circa 1st - early 2nd century A.D.

Showed in this relief, that still preserves the ducks of an eagle landed on his phrygian cap, is the son of Apollo and Calliope (the patron Muse of epic poetry), the hero Orpheus. Apollo gave him his first lyre, and Orpheus’ singing and playing were so beautiful

that birds like this now invisible eagle, other animals, and even trees and rocks moved about him in dance. 20cm high.

God of prophecy, of ritual purity (lustration), leader of the Muses (Musagetes), sender of epidemics as well as God of healing, he is

son of Zeus and Leto, brother of Artemis, born on the island of Delos. The quiver and bow as well as the lyre belong to him, but they rarely appear together. When shown with his bow and arrows he is often naked; with the lyre he is often dressed. The quiver (pharetra) may be on his back or take the form of a bag for bow and arrows (gorytos) on his left side. The lyre shows that he is the God of the Muses and of prophecy. He is almost always crowned with a laurel wreath. The Delphic Tripod (Delphi is the seat of his priestess, the Pythia, who spoke his oracles) will sometimes stand near him. The crow is his messenger, and the griffon, a fantastic mixture of lion and eagle, his pet. A serpent is often with him – not Python who was killed by Apollo when he approached Delphi – but the prophetic snake who is able to feel, earlier than all other beings, an impending earthquake and comes out of his hole. He is always shown as a youth, and, like some other Gods, Apollo may be holding a cup without foot and handles (phiale/patera).

APOLLO

Greek marble head of a kouros,Circa 520 - 490 B.C.This type of sculpture, looking straight ahead, in the manner of the Egyptians – the so-called archaic Apollo – appears at the very beginning of Greek sculpture in stone. In that example, we cannot be sure that this youth represents the God. He can also be a victorious athlete, a man who died before his time, or simply an offer to Apollo placed in one of his many temples across the archaic Greek world. 19cm high.

“The lyre and the curved bow shall ever be dear to me, and I will declare to men the unfailing will of Zeus.” (Homeric Hymn to Delian Apollo, 131 - 132)

APOLLO

Macedonian gold Stater (Obverse),340 - 336 B.C.18mm of diameter, 8.6g.

Son of Zeus and Hera, God of war and Patron God of Rome, he is always represented with weapons, sometimes wearing only a helmet,

others also with a cuirass and greaves. His favourite weapon is the lance; in Roman bronze statuettes he is often shown brandishing it. His holy animals are woodpeckers, wolves and horses. He is shown as a youth or, as a fatherly figure, bearded.

ARES / MARS

Roman silver Denarius (Reverse),A.D. 12118mm of diameter, 3.5g.

East Greek bronze dagger,Bronze Age, circa 1500 - 1250 B.C.This fantastic weapon may have been around Troy the very day when the God of War roared as loudly as nine or ten thousand men in the thick of the battle, striking with panic Achaeans and Trojans, so terrible was the cry he raised. 35cm long.

“Ares, exceeding in strength, chariot-rider, golden-helmed, doughty in heart, shield-bearer, saviour of cities, harnessed in bronze, strong of arm, unwearying, mighty with the spear, O defence of Olympus, father of warlike Nike, ally of Themis, stern governor of the rebellious, leader of righteous men, sceptred King of manliness, who whirl your fiery sphere among the planets in their sevenfold courses through the aether wherein your blazing steeds ever bear you above the third firmament of heaven; hear me, helper of men, giver of dauntless youth! ...” (Homeric Hymn to Ares, 1 - 9)

Roman bronze bust of Artemis,Circa 1st - 2nd century A.D.

This appliqué, once possibly used as furniture decoration, with the Goddess’ head so dramatically turned upward and to her left, is inspired by the so-

called “Hellenistic baroque”, whose greatest preserved examples are the gigantomachy of the Altar of Pergamum and the Laocoon group. 12cm high.

M istress of wild animals and Goddess of hunting, Artemis is daughter of Zeus and Leto and the sister of Apollo. She is a

virgin Goddess, but also protectress of childbirth. She has many attributes which are not all shown together. In Archaic art she often appears with wings and in a long dress grasping wild animals – lions, stags, or birds. Later she often wears a short chiton, a quiver with arrows and a bow, but she may also hold a torch or two of them. She is closely connected to the Moon.

ARTEMIS / DIANA

Greek geometric bronze deer,Circa 8th - 7th century B.C.Capturing the essence of the animal in a fantastic conceptual art, characteristic of the so-called geometric period, figurines like this were placed as offers to the Gods in their sanctuaries across the Greek world. From Macedon or Thrace, this charming deer may have been a gift to the hunter Goddess. 10cm high.

Macedonian silver Tetradrachm (Obverse)167 - 149 B.C.30mm of diameter, 16.8g.

“I sing of Artemis, whose shafts are of gold, who cheers on the hounds, the pure maiden, shooter of stags, who delights in archery, own sister to Apollo with the golden sword. Over the shadowy hills and windy peaks she draws her golden bow, rejoicing in the chase, and sends out grievous shafts...” (Homeric Hymn 27 to Artemis, 1 - 5)

Greek bronze Gorgoneion attachment,Circa 6th century B.C.This is, according to Greek archaic art, the appearance of the terrible Gorgon Medusa’s head in the Aegis worn by Athena, capable to put in flee entire armies of bronze dressed men. The present example, more modest than the original one, was able to protect from bad look a large and valuable bronze bowl or basin, while decorating its hand-plate. 7cm wide.

Alexandrian gold Stater (Obverse),323 - 305 B.C.18mm of diameter, 8.6g.

G oddess of wisdom, war strategy, as well as of practical labor like building and weaving, Athena was born full grown and armored from the head of Zeus. She was the divine companion of heroes like Achilles, Odysseus and Orestes, and the main Goddess in several greek cities, like Athens, where she

was called Polias (defender of the city) and Parthenos (virgin). In Rome, she belongs with Jupiter and Juno to the Capitoline Triad, the highest group of deities. Her holy animal is the owl. She uses as weapons a helmet, a shield, a lance and the Aegis, a breast plate framed by snakes with the fierce face of the Gorgon Medusa in the center.

ATHENA / MINERVA

Athenian silver Tetradrachm,455 - 449 B.C.25mm of diameter, 17.2g.

Roman silver and bronze mirror cover,Circa 1st century A.D.The Goddess Athena, to the left, is casting her lot to acquit Orestes (the central figure), while her sister Electra waits anxiously on the far right... The figures are rendered through a combination of repoussé and chasing techniques, adopted by the Romans from Greek craftsmen. This lovely mirror cover is an example of the decorative bronze relief work that characterized so much of ancient life. 13cm of diameter.

“Pallas Athena ... heaven’s dread arms her mighty limbs invest,Zeus’ cuirass blazes on her ample breast; Deck’d in sad triumph for the mournful field, O’er her broad shoulders hangs his horrid shield,Dire, black, tremendous! Round the margin roll’d, A fringe of serpents hissing guards the gold: Here all the terrors of grim War appear, Here rages Force, here tremble Flight and Fear, Here storm’d Contention, and here Fury frown’d,And the dire orb portentous Gorgon crown’d.” (Iliad, V, 736 - 742)

Roman bronze statuette of a faun (satyr),Circa 1st century A.D.

13cm high.

God of wine, of ecstasy and of the Athenian theatre, which was a model for dramatic performances throughout the ancient

world. One of Dionysos’ attributes, therefore, is the mask. The newborn God appears as a baby already in Archaic art, whereas other divinities are in the moment of their birth already in the full strength of youth. Dionysos, consort of the deified cretan princess Ariadne, has the vine and the ivy as his holy plants which also crown his head. His followers, satyrs (latin silens, half man, half goat) and maenads (ecstatic women), form a thiasos (cult association) around their master. They carry the thyrsos, a stick made of narthex (giant fennel) with a bunch of ivy on its upper end and play flutes or tympana in honour of their God. In Archaic art Dionysos often is bearded and wears a long tunic; from Classical art onwards he may also be a naked youth. His other attributes are the kantharos (drinking cup with large handles) and a vine. His holy animal is the panther. The later are also seen in front of the triumphal chariot of Dionysos, who was the model for Alexander the Great in his conquest of India.

DIONYSOS / BACCHUS

“Be favorable, O Insewn, Inspirer of frenzied women! We singers sing of you as we begin and as we end a strain, and none forgetting you may call holy song to mind...” (Homeric Hymn 1D to Dionysos, 8 - 10)

Hellenistic bronze olpe,Circa 3rd - 2nd century B.C.Vases like this were normally used to pour wine. The Gorgoneion at the base of the handle, in Hellenistic style, looks somewhat more “friendly” than her archaic version. 19cm high.

Roman marble head of Cupido,2nd century A.D.

The head of this divine child, once part of a slightly smaller than life-size statue, was craved from a beautiful coarse-grained white

marble. Somewhat dramatically turned to his right with his naughty but melancholic gaze, this Eros was inspired by a famous 4th century B.C. sculpture by Lysippos, one of the masters of the

Greek Late Classical. 17cm high.

God of love, but, more than that, a cosmic principle of union, Eros is one of the earliest and self-created Gods at the dawn

of the Universe. Almost never depicted in Archaic art, from Classical art onwards he starts to be represented as a very young child, often with his bow and arrows. In Hellenistic and Roman times he is also son of Aphrodite, perhaps adopted by the Goddess of Love as the eternal childish and primordial force of union. As the infinite forms of love, he may be more than one at the same time, often associated with his brothers Himeros, Pothos and Anteros.

EROS / CUPIDO

“First of all Chaos came into being. But then Gaia broad-chested, always the unshakable seat of all the immortals who hold the peaks of snowy Olympus, and dark Tartaros in the recesses of the wide-wayed earth, and Eros, the most beautiful among the immortal gods, loosener of limbs, who subdues the mind and prudent counsel in the chests of all gods and of all men.” (Theogony, 116 - 122)

Q ueen of the Gods, married to her brother Zeus, mother of Ares, of Hebe (Goddess of youth, Olympian wife of Herakles), of

the birth Goddess Eileithyia and of Hephaistos, she is the protective Goddess of wives, and very jealous. Her main Greek sanctuaries were in Argos and Samos; she was also highly venerated in Kroton and Poseidonia (Magna Graecia). As Juno she belongs, together with Jupiter and Minerva, to the Capitoline Triad in Rome. She is always shown as a beautiful young woman, mostly with a sceptre and veil. She may hold a pomegranate, and her holy bird is the cuckoo.

In Roman Imperial times, Iuno Lucina (the “bringer of light”) is the Goddess who helped newborn children see the light of day and is especially associated with childbirth in the Imperial family.

HERA / JUNO

Roman bronze Sestertius (Reverse),A.D. 166

32mm of diameter, 25.5g.

“I sing of golden-throned Hera whom Rhea bare. Queen of the immortals is she, surpassing all in beauty: she is the sister and the wife of loud-thundering Zeus, — the glorious one whom all the blessed throughout high Olympus reverence and honor even as Zeus who delights in thunder.” (Homeric Hymn to Hera)

T he son of Zeus and the theban queen Alcmena, born as a demigod named Alcides, he suffered since his early childhood of the

harmful effects of Hera’s jealousy, culminating with the performance of his famous twelve labors. At the end of his mortal life, he martyrized himself in a funeral pyre on top of Mount Oeta, being after his death elevated to Olympus as a God by his father, where he received the name Herakles (meaning “the glory of Hera”), and his half-sister Hebe, Goddess of youth, as wife. Ever since, he was worshipped as both a mortal hero and a God. He is very often represented in art as a very strong man, bearded or unbearded, commonly wearing a lionskin (the hide of the Nemean lion which he killed in his first labour) and a club. From Hellenistic times onwards, he acquired an important dionysian facet, being sometimes represented drunk. If he holds a drinking vessel, it is the skyphos; his holy tree is the leuke (white poplar), the leaves of which may crown him.

HERAKLES / HERCULES

Hellenistic fragment of silver medallion with Herakles,Circa 2nd - 1st century B.C.In this head, once part of a luxuriant silver medallion full of the monumentality and emotionalism of High Hellenistic “baroque” creations, the young hero, with a melancholic gaze, appears depicted as follower of Dionysos, with his lion scalp adorned with ivy leaves. This dionysiac aspect of Herakles was first accentuated in the Hellenistic period, to became very popular in Roman times, when he is often depicted drunk. 9cm of diameter.

Roman bronze statuette of Hercules,Circa 1st - early 2nd century A.D.

The immortal hero is depicted in the manner of the master Polykleitos, in accentuate contrapposto, with his

lion skin draped over his left shoulder and arm, perhaps once holding a kantharus or one of the apples of the Hesperides in his extended right hand. 24cm high.

“I will sing of Herakles, the son of Zeus and much the mightiest of men on earth. Alcmena bare him in Thebes, the city of lovely dances, when the dark-clouded Son of Kronos had lain with her. Once he used to wander over unmeasured tracts of land and sea at the bidding of King Eurystheus, and himself did many deeds of violence and endured many; but now he lives happily in the glorious home of snowy Olympus, and has neat-ankled Hebe for his wife.” (Homeric Hymn to Herakles, 1 - 8)

D aughter of Kronos and Rhea, Goddess of the hearth of the home community. In Greece she had an altar in the temple of

Delphi, from where every year the holy fire was fetched by the single poleis (city states). She also appeared in a circular temple in the Forum Romanum, where she had the Vestal virgins as her priestesses. This virgin Goddess is not often represented; in Roman art, she is veiled and holds a sceptre like Juno. Other attributes are a ladle (simpuvium or capis), bread and the donkey.

HESTIA / VESTA

“Hestia, you who tend the holy house of the lord Apollo, the Far-shooter at goodly Pytho, with soft oil dripping ever from your locks, come now into this house, come, having one mind with Zeus the all-wise — draw near, and withal bestow grace upon my song.” (Homeric Hymn 24 to Hestia)

Roman silver Denarius (Reverse),A.D. 6518mm of diameter, 3.5g.

Goddess of health, Hygieia is the daughter of Asklepios, so Apollo’s grand-daughter. In Classical art she is represented fully dressed,

holding or feeding her father’s holy snake, and at least once with a winged Eros in her left arm. In Roman coins she is enthroned, holding a patera and a sceptre.

HYGIEIA / SALUS

Roman bronze Sestertius (Reverse),A.D. 77 - 7831mm of diameter, 26.0g.

Roman God of doors and gateways. He has two bearded faces that looks in opposite directions. In addition to his “janiform”

head, an allegory of the two faces of the door, he holds a key: only a locked door can give security. He may also hold a stick, because he is the divine guard of the door. In Rome, the doors of his temple were alternately closed in times of peace, and open in case of war.

JANUS

“Janus himself before his fane shall wait,And keep the dreadful issues of his gate,With bolts and iron bars: within remainsImprison’d Fury, bound in brazen chains...”(Aeneid, I, 310 -313)

Roman bronze As (Obverse),211 - 207 B.C.36mm of diameter, 40.4g.

Roman silver Denarius (Obverse),119 B.C.19mm of diameter, 3.9g.

Very old and popular Roman godlike spirits, they are guards of the house, and of the streets and fields. They were venerated in

the Lararium (house hold sanctuary). Many bronze statuettes of Lares were found in Pompeii, often near the remains of those buried by the Vesuvius ashes while trying to save their Gods. Originally on indefinite number, in Roman Imperial time they were represented as two boys or youths, one mirroring the other. Wearing a short tunic and high boots, they dance on tiptoes, a rhyton in one hand, and a bucket with wine (situla) in the other.

LARES

Roman bronze dancing Lar,Circa A.D. 68 - 79Possibly from Pompeii. 18cm high.

Goddess of victory, she is winged and, like Eros, may be more than one at the same time. From Classical art she appears often

landed in the extended right hand of another deity, like in the colossal Zeus of Phidias in Olympia, or in the Athena Parthenos, by the same master. Nike usually wears a long dress, often clung to her body, like in the Nike by Paionios, in which her flight is crossed by an eagle, messenger of Zeus. Victoria may be nearly naked, her clothes taken off by the winds of her graceful flight. Her attributes show what kind of victory she personifies – in Greece often an athletic one (ribbon, wreath, palm branch), and she can be seen in some coins crowning the auriga of a fast quadriga victorious in the Olympic Games, or even the horses... But it also can be a victory in a sea battle, by standing on a ship prow, like the Nike of Samothrake. The Nike adorning a trophy with the arms taken in battle from the enemy was a Greek invention, but more often appears on Roman coins or historical relieves.

NIKE / VICTORIA

Macedonian silver Tetradrachm (Obverse),305 - 295 B.C.27mm of diameter, 17.2g.

Roman marble Victoria,Circa 1st - 2nd century A.D.

Inspired by Hellenistic Nikes like theNike of Samothrace, now in the Louvre, this

Roman version of the Goddess of Victory has her clothes partially taken off by the wind at

the moment of landing, showing her beautiful breasts and navel. Even almost destroyed by

the passage of time, this sculpture is still able to show us the passion for eternal beauty of the

Roman world. 38cm high.

Persephone is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter (Goddess of the harvest), and queen of the Underworld. She was given by Zeus as wife to his brother Hades without the agreement of her mother, who then threaten to kill all mortals by famine, depriving the Gods of worshipers. Finally Zeus orders Persephone

to stay two thirds of the year with her mother, and the remaining third with her husband in the Underworld. In Greek art until the later fifth century B.C. Persephone is interchangable with her mother, because she has similar attributes – ears of grain, a sceptre, a torch. Later on Demeter becomes a motherly figure, and Persephone a slim girl, being also called Kore / Cora (child/girl). Often a big mantle is wrapped round her body and she may hold two long torches.

PERSEPHONE / PROSERPINA

Syracusan silver Dekadrachm (Obverse),405 - 400 B.C.

34mm of diameter, 41.3g.

“...she was playing with the deep-bosomed daughters of Oceanus and gathering flowers over a soft meadow, roses and crocuses and beautiful violets, irises also and hyacinths and the narcissus, which Gaia made to grow at the will of Zeus and to please the Host of Many, to be a snare for the bloom-like girl — a marvellous, radiant flower. It was a thing of awe whether for deathless Gods or mortal men to see: from its root grew a hundred blooms and it smelled most sweetly, so that all wide heaven above and the whole earth and the sea’s salt swell laughed for joy. And the girl was amazed and reached out with both hands to take the lovely toy; but the wide-pathed earth yawned there in the plain of Nysa, and the lord, Host of Many, with his immortal horses sprang out upon her...” (Homeric Hymn 2 to Demeter, 5 - 18)

Brother of Zeus, God of the sea, and of earthquakes. No other Olympian God is know to be father of so many heroes from mortal women. One of them was Theseus, one of the most venerated Athenian heroes. His holy animals are dolphins, horses and hippocamps. In sculpture he appears naked from

Archaic times onward, brandishing his trident or holding it like a sceptre.

POSEIDON / NEPTUNUS

Macedonian silver Tetradrachm (Reverse),305 - 295 B.C.27mm of diameter, 17.2g.

“I begin to sing about Poseidon, the great god, mover of the earth and fruitless sea, god of the deep who is also lord of Helicon and wide Aegae. A two-fold office the gods allotted you, O Shaker of the Earth, to be a tamer of horses and a saviour of ships!” (Homeric Hymn to Poseidon, 1 - 5)

Supreme God of Olympus, a bearded paternal God, whose holy bird is the eagle. He has power over weather and holds a thunderbolt in

his hand. This shows him also as the God of oaths, who would punish perjury. His main sanctuary in Greece was Olympia. The Capitoline Jupiter between Juno and Minerva was called Optimus Maximus, the best and greatest. His holy tree is the oak, and he may be crowned with oak leaves.

ZEUS / JUPITER

Macedonian silver Tetradrachm (Obverse),348 - 336 B.C.25mm of diameter, 14.4g.

Roman silver Denarius (Reverse),A.D. 231

20mm of diameter, 3.0g.

“No longer did Zeus restrain his might but straightaway his heart filled with might, and he showed all his brute force. From Ouranos and Olympus together he came striding, flashing lightning constantly. His bolts were flying in close array with thunder and flash from his sturdy hands, whirling the flamethickly...” (Theogony, 687 - 693)

Roman bronze Sestertius (Reverse),A.D. 14131mm of diameter, 25.5g.

EGYPT - When Gods were among mor ta l s

Egyptian Third Intermediate Period bronze shabti,Reign of Psousennes I, 1045 - 994 B.C.This magic little sculpture was destined to gain life and serve in the afterlife to his master, the General Wen-Djeban-En-Djed. It was found in Tanis, on the East Nile delta, in a tomb adjacent to that of King Psousennes I, the third of the Egyptian twenty-first dynasty, known as The Silver Pharaoh. The hieroglyphs engraved on the lower part of the bronze mummified body read “Osiris the Great”. 9cm high.

Egyptian Old Kingdom limestone sunk relief,Fifth Dynasty, circa 2465 - 2323 B.C.

This relief was found at Abusir, land of Osiris, eternal home of the Fifth Dynasty kings. It was

once probably part of a false door, a passage between this world and that of the death in

a funerary chapel, in front of which were placed the offers to the chapel’s owner. The

first three hieroglyphs together can form the word “weight”, the fourth is that of “heaven”,

and the bread and water line below can be a determinative, like “of this”, or many other

meanings, since we don’t know what follows below. 20cm high.

Egypt should be always at the beginning – beginning of thinking, beginning of drawing, of scripture, beginning of art itself, as shown

by this Fifth Dynasty sunk relief, which seems to embody the circle of time and heaven. Besides, one of these hard stone vessels, beautifully craved and polished, that ceased to be produced after the glorious times of Saqqara. How came to an end such amazing technology? Could it be much, much older, older than Egypt itself? Finally, a Shabti, a humble servant for eternity, a finely modeled piece of solid cast bronze destined to regain life to serve his master forever, in his renewed life after “westering”.

Egyptian granite bowl,Before circa 2323 B.C.Hard stone vessels like this had been found by thousands in Old Kingdom royal and elite burials, the majority broken, probably intentionally. There is no explanation for why the ability to make such vases was suddenly lost, and there are some theories that suggest they could be the remanents of a lost civilization thousands of years older than Egypt itself. 16cm of diameter.

All rights reserved of photos 2015Items owned by Rodrigo Bonzanini