The Louvre's website (
visit link) informs us:
"Collections royales françaises
Dès le XVIe siècle, les rois de France reçurent des antiques d'Italie en cadeaux diplomatiques. En 1604, Henri IV réunit la majeure partie de ce premier ensemble dans la salle des Antiques du Louvre. Colbert, puis Louvois, entreprirent d'accroître la collection royale pour Louis XIV. Quelques marbres furent obtenus difficilement en Italie. S'y ajoutent heureusement des antiques offertes par leurs propriétaires français ou obtenues grâce aux diplomates présents en Méditerranée orientale. Les antiques des résidences royales sont saisies avec les biens de la Couronne en 1792, pour être exposées au Louvre.
Buste de divinité barbue, dit Jupiter de Versailles
IIe siècle après J.-C. ( buste)
et XVIIe siècle après J.-C. (gaine drapée)
Rome ( buste) et Île-de-France (gaine drapée)
Marbre
H. : 3,85 m.
Ce buste colossal est découvert vers 1525 près de la Porta del Popolo, à Rome, et placé par le pape Clément VII dans sa villa, dite Madama lorsqu'elle accueille Marguerite d'Autriche, fille de Charles Quint. Donnée en 1541 au conseiller de l'empereur Nicolas Perrenot de Granvelle, l'oeuvre est installée en 1546 dans son hôtel à Besançon. Son héritier Charles-François de la Baume l'offre en 1683 à Louis XIV.
Destiné à l'origine pour la galerie de Versailles, le buste de Jupiter est finalement installé dans le bosquet du théâtre d'Eau, et transformé en terme en ajoutant une gaine drapée par Jacques Drouilly. Abusivement attribué au sculpteur grec Myron, le buste est parmi les premières oeuvres à quitter Versailles pour le Louvre en 1798.
which Google translates as:
"French royal collections
From the sixteenth century, the kings of France were given ancient Italy in diplomatic gifts. In 1604, Henri IV brings together most of the first set in the Hall of Antiquities at the Louvre. Colbert and Louvois, undertook to increase the royal collection for Louis XIV. Some marbles were obtained easily in Italy. Fortunately there is added ancient offered by their French owners or obtained through diplomats in the eastern Mediterranean. The ancient royal residences are entered with the property of the Crown in 1792, to be exhibited at the Louvre.
Bust of bearded deity, said Jupiter Versailles
Second century AD (bust)
and seventeenth century AD (draped sheath)
Rome (bust) and Ile-de-France (draped sheath)
marble
H. : 3.85 m.
This colossal bust was discovered around 1525 near the Porta del Popolo, Rome, and placed by Pope Clement VII in his villa, known as Madama when hosts Margaret of Austria, daughter of Charles Quint. Given in 1541 to advise the emperor Perrenot Nicolas de Granvelle, the work was installed in 1546 in a hotel in Besancon. His heir Charles-François de la Baume supply in 1683 to Louis XIV.
Originally intended for the gallery of Versailles, the bust of Jupiter finally settled in the grove of the Water Theatre, and converted into term by adding a jacket draped Jacques Drouilly. Wrongly attributed to the Greek sculptor Myron, the bust is among the first works to leave Versailles to the Louvre in 1798."
Jupiter was the Supreme Roman god and Wikipedia (
visit link) adds:
"In ancient Roman religion and myth, Jupiter (Latin: Iuppiter) or Jove is the king of the gods and the god of sky and thunder. Jupiter was the chief deity of Roman state religion throughout the Republican and Imperial eras, until Christianity became the dominant religion of the Empire. In Roman mythology, he negotiates with Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome, to establish principles of Roman religion such as sacrifice.
Jupiter is usually thought to have originated as a sky god. His identifying implement is the thunderbolt, and his primary sacred animal is the eagle, which held precedence over other birds in the taking of auspices and became one of the most common symbols of the Roman army (see Aquila). The two emblems were often combined to represent the god in the form of an eagle holding in its claws a thunderbolt, frequently seen on Greek and Roman coins. As the sky-god, he was a divine witness to oaths, the sacred trust on which justice and good government depend. Many of his functions were focused on the Capitoline ("Capitol Hill"), where the citadel was located. He was the chief deity of the early Capitoline Triad with Mars and Quirinus. In the later Capitoline Triad, he was the central guardian of the state with Juno and Minerva. His sacred tree was the oak.
The Romans regarded Jupiter as the equivalent of Greek Zeus, and in Latin literature and Roman art, the myths and iconography of Zeus are adapted under the name Iuppiter. In the Greek-influenced tradition, Jupiter was the brother of Neptune and Pluto. Each presided over one of the three realms of the universe: sky, the waters, and the underworld."