Torso of the god Attis. Rome, 2nd century AD. Marble. Measurements:... Lot 69

Torso of the god Attis. Rome, 2nd century AD. Marble. Measurements: 52 x 16 x 14 cm. Round sculpture representing the torso of Attis, a Greek god adopted from the Phrygians and who was also worshipped by the Romans. God of lost and rediscovered vegetation, he personifies the ephemeral and revived spring. Attis represents the nature that dies in autumn and rises again in spring. This oriental divinity has its origins in Phrygia and various versions of the mythological legend are known, always emphasising his death due to self-castration and his subsequent resurrection. He was considered to be the lover of the goddess Cybele. In the Roman world we find representations of Attis in all kinds of artistic manifestations, among which we would like to highlight sculpture. His iconography is very varied, as this divinity is presented in different poses, sometimes alone and sometimes in the company of Cybele. This diversity is due to the desire to show the god in the most relevant moments of his myth or to express ideologies of symbolic-religious content through his image. We should highlight those figures that represent him as the patron deity of the dead and of their resurrection, in this case without any relation to Cybele, as he too had known suffering and death and had overcome them. It is precisely Roman sculpture that stood out from Greek sculpture in the creation of the sculpture-portrait. Roman portraiture has its roots in Etruscan art, but also in the Hellenistic Greek world and in the "mascaras mayorum", i.e. wax masks that were applied to the faces of the deceased for later remembrance and worship. The materials most commonly used in Roman portraiture were bronze and marble. Initially, Roman portrait sculpture only depicted the head and part of the neck. Later, progress was made in the representation of the entire bust, including the shoulders and chest. However, full-body sculptures were also sculpted, as in the one presented here.