Door With Serapis Model 1

3D Model

Panel with Painted Image of Serapis

Artist/Maker: Unknown

Culture: Romano-Egyptian

Place: Egypt, Africa (Place created)

Date: A.D. 100–200

Medium: Tempera on wood

Object Number: 74.AP.21

Dimensions: 39.1 × 19.1 × 1.6 cm (15 3/8 × 7 1/2 × 5/8 in.)

Depicted as a mature bearded man, the god Serapis is similar in appearance to Graeco-Roman gods like Zeus or Jupiter, with whom he shares the role of king of the gods. The stylized modius or grain measure on his head emphasizes his role as a fertility deity. The Greek god Hades also wore this symbol, linking Serapis with the role of god of the Underworld.

Serapis was a creation of the Ptolemies, the Greek rulers of Egypt from 323 to 30 B.C. They needed a deity to help unify the mixed population of native Egyptians and Greek colonists. Serapis blended aspects of major Greek and Egyptian gods, making him acceptable to everyone.

Provenance: by 1973 - 1974 Nicolas Koutoulakis, 1910 - 1996 (Geneva, Switzerland), sold to the J. Paul Getty Museum, 1974.