Silver Relief Mask of Jupiter as Serapis in the Getty Villa, July 2008

Relief Mask of Jupiter as Serapis
Roman, made in Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), 1-150 AD
Silver

Inventory # 82.AM.88

The use of silver, an expensive material, to make this sculpture suggests that it represents a god rather than a human. The facial features, the full beard, and the wavy hair swept up high over the forehead are characteristic of depictions of Jupiter (Roman king of the gods) as Serapis, an Egyptian god of fertility adopted by the Greeks and Romans. This relief may have been used to decorate processional armor.

Text from the Getty Villa museum label.