Perhaps you’re familiar with the ‘Artemesion Zeus/Poseidon’ – a highlight among many at the Athens’ National Archaeological Museum and a masterpiece of Early Classical bronze casting. Nude, powerful, lifesized and bearded he tends to inspire some debate thanks to his missing attributes. Did his trident go astray (in which case he’s Poseidon) or was it rather a thunderbolt (and therefore Zeus)?
Well this little fellow in the Met (reputedly originally from Cyrene, but I suppose we’d have to posthumously interrogate John Marshall to know that story) is likely one of those two gods, posed in a similar fashion just in miniature and created a generation earlier (ca. 500 B.C.). And with the same lack of of helpful props. Perplexity! Consternation!
His expressive open mouth and shaggy beard and hair are especially appealing (as is the still somewhat crusty surface, seen best in the early 20th century black and white snaps). My bets are tentatively on the slightly more unhinged and temperamental Poseidon based solely on his scruffiness, but it’s hardly a scientific approach.
