Roman emperor in the Egyptian manner, 1st century AD.

Representation of a Roman emperor in the Egyptian manner, 1st century AD.
Bronze.
Provenance: Georges Savès collection.
Measurements: 8,7 cm (height).

This sculpture represents a Roman emperor in the Egyptian style, dated in the 1st century AD. The figure, of small dimensions and cast in bronze, presents a rigid and frontal posture characteristic of Egyptian art, with the arms close to the body and the left leg forward. Although the features are schematic, the sculpture reflects the adaptation of Roman imperial portraiture to local Egyptian artistic conventions, especially in the context of Roman rule over the region after the conquest in 30 BC. This type of work demonstrates the cultural fusion between Rome and Egypt in official iconography.

This piece comes from the collection of Georges Savès (1908-1985), a French numismatist and collector with a deep vocation for archaeological study. Heir to a family tradition of collecting, he devoted himself fully to historical and numismatic research since the 1950s, especially on Toulouse and Gallic coins. Throughout his life, he assembled an eclectic collection of archaeological, ethnographic and artistic pieces, enriched in 1966 with the acquisition of part of the Roger Bédiat collection. Author of specialized studies, his legacy remains a reference in the academic and patrimonial fields.