Portrait of Ptolemy I Soter
Unknown · 3rd century BC
Only the face is ancient. The strong jaw, the deep set eyes under heavy brows, the lips pressed together and a single curl escaping over the forehead beneath a narrow band: these are the features that coins give to Ptolemy I Soter, the general of Alexander who made himself king of Egypt and founded a dynasty that lasted until Cleopatra. The marble is from Paros, and the back of the head was originally finished in stucco, a practice common in Egypt where fine marble had to be imported. The rest, skull, neck and bust, was carved in the eighteenth century by the French sculptor Augustin Pajou, who also completed the nose.
The head was probably made in the third century BC, in Alexandria or the eastern Mediterranean, when statues of the deified Ptolemy and his queen Berenice stood in temples and gymnasiums across the kingdom. The portrait came to the Louvre as a gift and belongs to the old royal collection, as its inventory number shows. Compare it with the heads of later Ptolemies nearby to see how the dynasty's official image softened over two centuries.
Did You Know? Everything except the face is eighteenth century: the sculptor Augustin Pajou gave the king a new skull, neck and chest.
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