Phoenix Ancient Art S.A.

A bronze figure of a boy dressed in an elaborate costume stands atop a claw-footed rectangular stand. He strides forward firmly with his left foot, his right touching the ground delicately behind him. A bronze lamp stand in the form of a tree grows from stylized acanthus leaves and is situated to his left. Each scrolling branch of the tree terminates in stylized acorn-like buds.

He wears a short-sleeved tunic, which is belted at the waist and under, a long-sleeved, fitted shirt. His clothing billows sensuously away from his torso, revealing a sensitively rendered chest and abdomen. He wears shoes and fitted trousers that are bound at his ankles. On his head he wears a high, four-sided peaked tiara, with a flap at the back. Intricate inlays of silver and copper in geometric patterns and stylized rosettes have been used to add richness and pattern to the figure, his face, his costume, his tiara and the stand. It appears that he held items in both hands, as he still holds part of a bronze strap in his left and part of an object in his right.

The suggestion that this bronze figure is a depiction of Alexander Helios, the eldest son of Marc Antony and Cleopatra, is based primarily on the description of the so-called ‘Donations of Alexandria’ by Plutarch and the participation of Alexander Helios in that ceremony. Such an identity for two similar bronze figures, now in the Walters Art Gallery and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (see Minerva vol. 11 no. 4, p. 43), was first suggested in April 2000 by Guy Weill Goudchaux.

Our figure is a stylistic parallel to both the Walters and Metropolitan figures and in turn, all three can be considered ‘royal bronze figures of Alexander Helios.’ The archaeological and the literary records barely mention the children of Marc Antony and Cleopatra. In turn, recognizing this figure as Alexander Helios is an exciting and important identification, one that helps fill in the missing pieces surrounding the life, lineage and surviving memory of Antony, Cleopatra and their family.

Alexander Helios was the eldest son of Marc Antony and Cleopatra and the twin to his sister Cleopatra Selene, who were born in ca. 40 B.C. Both were given their epithets later in life, making Alexander the physical embodiment of the sun (helios) and his sister of the moon (selene). Antony and Cleopatra also had a third child, a younger son, named Ptolemy.


Literary Evidence:

In Plutarch’s Lives, he describes the life of Antony, and the ‘Donations of Alexandria’, an elaborate ceremony that took place in 34 B.C, in which Antony divided the Eastern provinces among Cleopatra and their young children:

“Nor was the division he made among his sons at Alexandria less unpopular; it seemed a theatrical piece of insolence and contempt of his country. For assembling the people in the exercise ground, and causing two golden thrones to be placed on a platform of silver, the one for him and the other for Cleopatra, and at their feet lower thrones for their children.”

Plutarch goes on to describe the dress and demeanor of the participants, namely the children of Marc Antony and Cleopatra. He also mentions that it was the tradition of the successors of Alexander the Great to dress in the costume of the provinces they were to receive, and that this was the inspiration for the provincial costumes worn during the ‘Donations of Alexandria’:

“His own sons by Cleopatra were to have the style of king of kings; to Alexander he gave Armenia and Media, with Parthia, so soon as it should be overcome; to Ptolemy, Phoenicia, Syria and Cilicia. Alexander was brought out before the people in Median costume, the tiara and upright peak, and Ptolemy, in boots and mantle and Macedonian cap done about with a diadem; for this was the habit of the successors of Alexander…”


Media and the Medes:

Medes appear in history in the later part of the 9^th century B.C. From the 8^th century B.C. on, the Median Empire was located in what is now western Iran. At its greatest time of expansion, the Median Empire dominated western Iran and reached from areas in north-western Iran and northern Mesopotamia to Asia Minor. Unfortunately, little is known about Median culture and art because no unquestionably Median site has thus far been excavated and because no work securely attributed to Median artists has been found. Luckily, images of Medes in their traditional costumes have been preserved in the artistic and literary records of their contemporaries.

Median Costume:

The costume the youth wears is ornate and unusual, both in decoration and type, and can be considered a style of royal Median dress. Along with Plutarch’s description of Median costume, there are several archaeological and artistic testaments to this distinctive manner of dress. Although slight variations exist, most images of Medes and descriptions of the standard Median costume consists of trousers, a fitted, sleeved top, and a tiara or cap, often with a peaked extension.

The tiara and upright peak mentioned by Plutarch and worn by Alexander Helios, appears ceremonial in nature, and would most likely not have been worn in everyday life, or by a common man. It is most likely a costume reserved for one of high political and/or religious stature and indeed finds its closest parallels in images of royal Eastern personages.

Conclusion:

The costume that this boy wears is consistent with the literary and archaeological descriptions of Median royal dress. In turn, the young age of this figure is also consistent with it being a royal portrait of Alexander Helios, as he would only have been about six years old at the time of the ‘Donations of Alexandria’ in 34 B.C.

The juxtaposition of Alexander Helios with the elaborate lamp stand in the form of a tree is logical, particularly if he is being recognized and venerated as a figure that holds the characteristics and properties of the sun (helios) and is perceived, here quite literally, as a bringer of light.

That images of the son of Antony would be popular, especially in the Eastern Roman provinces, is not surprising and according to Goudchaux, demonstrates how the cult of Antony and the propaganda of Antony and Cleopatra developed, particularly in the East.

Published:

• Avenue Magazine, Switzerland, Tribute, 2000.

Parallels:

      Statues from New York and Baltimore:

• KOZLOFF A.P. - MITTEN D.G. (éd.), ”The Gods Delight, The Human Figure in Classical Bronze”, Cat. Expo. Cleveland, 1989, p. 288 ss.
• SMITH A.H. in ”The Journal of Hellenic studies”, no. 37, 1917, p. 135ss.
• POZZI E. (éd.), « Le collezioni del Museo Nazionale di Napoli », vol. I,2, 1989, pp. 132-133, pp. 138-139, p. 145.

      About Attis:

• “Lexicon Ikonographicum Mythologiae Classicae”, no. III, p. 22ss, s.v. Attis.
• Ghirshman, Roman. The Arts of Ancient Iran. From its Origins to the Time of Alexander the Great. (trans. By Stuart Gilbert and James Emmons). New York: Golden Press.
• Plutarch. Lives. (The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans). The Dryden translation, edited and revised by Arthur Hugh Clough. Volume II. New York: The Modern Library, 1992.
• Porada, Edith [with the collaboration of R.H. Dyson and contributions by C.K. Wilkinson]. The Art of Ancient Iran, Pre-Islamic Cultures. New York: Crown Publishers, Inc. Art of the World. 1962.