The Dying Alexander (Detail)

Head of The Dying Alexander (detail) , 17th-18th century copy after the famous antique marble head in the Uffizi, Florence

A dark mist crossed the sky, and a bolt of lightning was seen to fall from heaven into the sea, and with it a great eagle. And the bronze statue of Arimazd in Babylon quivered; and the lightning ascended into heaven, and the eagle went with it, taking with it a radiant star. And when the star disappeared in the sky, Alexander too had shut his eyes

The Legend had begun.

~The Nature of Alexander by Mary Renault~

Marble head of Zeus Ammon

Imperial, ca. A.D. 120–160 A.D.,Roman, Marble, H. from base: 19 in. (48.2 cm.),Stone Sculpture

Zeus Ammon’s sanctuary at the Oasis of Siwa in the Libyan desert was already famous when Alexander the Great made his pilgrimage there in 331 B.C. Alexander’s visit to Siwa was a pivotal moment in the young king’s extraordinary life. The details are shrouded in mystery, but legend has it that the Oracle proclaimed him son of Zeus Ammon and answered Alexander’s questions favorably, “to his heart’s desire.”This powerful portrait of the god combines a classical Greek image of the bearded Zeus with the ram’s horns of the Egyptian Ammon, an attribute with which Alexander himself was sometimes represented. It may well reflect a sculpture created in Egypt in the years after Alexander’s historic visit to Siwa.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Marble head of Alexander the Great

Marble head of Alexander the Great, found in the Kerameikos, Athens
c. 300 BC. Height 0,28 m.

Marble head of Alexander the Great, found in the Kerameikos, Athens c. 300 BC.

Head of Alexander the Great, made of pentelic marble. It was found in the Kerameikos, Athens. Alexander wears the lion’s pelt, a common iconographic feature in depictions of the young king on coins, which hints at his descent from the mythical hero Herakles. The letters on Alexander’s face were carved at a later period.

Source : National Archaeological Museum, Athens

Head of Hephaestion

Head of Hephaestion. Unknown. Greek, about 320 B.C. Marble. The J. Paul Getty Museum.

The son of a noble Macedonian family, Hephaestion was the beloved companion of Alexander the Great. Together since boyhood, Hephaestion fought alongside Alexander as he created his great empire. When Hephaestion died in Persia in 324 B.C., Alexander mourned him extravagantly. He was given a royal funeral and Alexander ordered the cities of Greece to worship Hephaestion as a hero.

This head of Hephaestion, broken from a full-length statue, was originally part of a multi-figured group, which might have depicted a sacrificial scene. The J. Paul Getty Museum has more than thirty fragments of this group. The participants include Alexander, Hephaestion, a goddess, Herakles, a flute player, and several other figures, as well as animals and birds. This group may have served as a funerary monument for some nobleman who wanted to associate himself with Alexander, or it might be a monument erected in response to Alexander’s call for the creation of a hero cult.

The appearance of this head has changed over time. A metal ribbon or diadem once circled the head, although only a shallow groove remains today. The head was also re-carved in antiquity, with the hair shortened and the lower eyelids altered.

The J. Paul Getty Museum

Head of Alexander The Great

Head of Alexander the Great © BA Antiquities Museum/C. Gerigk

Head of Alexander the Great

Category: Sculpture in the round, heads / masks
Date: Graeco-Roman Period (332 BCE-395 CE)
Provenance: Lower Egypt, Alexandria, Kom El-Dekka (Excavations of the Polish Expedition)
Material: Rock, marble
Height: 17 cm;
Width:10 cm

Description

A Roman replica of a marble head of Alexander the Great. It was found in Kom El Dekka in Alexandria by the Polish expedition.

The head bears the traditional features of the portraits of Alexander the Great which were mooraged by the sculptor Lysippos. The head is inclined to the right, the eyes are gazing meditatively into the distant horizon.

Antiquities Museum/Greco-Roman Museum