Bronze Head Of The God Osiris – Louvre Museum - éditions Des Musées Nationaux

Period: 20th century
Based on an original: Egypt, Late Period, circa 650–600 B.C.
Location of the original: Louvre Museum, Paris
Publisher: Réunion des Musées Nationaux
Material: patinated bronze
Base: black marble

An elegant head of the god Osiris in bronze with a brown patina on a black marble base, modeled after an ancient work held in the Department of Egyptian Antiquities at the Louvre Museum.

Osiris’s face, rendered with great restraint, displays the idealized features characteristic of Egyptian sculpture from the 26th Dynasty. The god wears the traditional high miter, with the uraeus cobra appearing at the center of his forehead. The modeling of the face, the emphasized eyes, and the serene expression reflect the artistic renewal of the Late Period, marked in particular by a return to certain archaic forms.

This reproduction was produced as part of the National Museums’ publications, based on a cast of the original work. A comparable example is documented in a public auction with the notation “Reproduction, Cast by the Louvre Museum” and a total height of 33 cm.

The model is currently sold by the official Louvre store under the reference RE000013, titled “Head of King Psammetichus III in the Form of the God Osiris.” The Louvre specifies that the current cast is made of patinated resin and mounted on a marble base; our bronze example corresponds to an earlier edition, likely from the early 20th century.

A very beautiful decorative and collectible object, particularly interesting for its direct connection to the Louvre’s collections and the history of how Egyptian artworks were disseminated by the National Museums.