A missing work of art: Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Asklepios, Serapis, or Herakles?

By: Anthony Bonanno

This is an edition of a small marble head of a male bearded divinity found in 1924 in an underground space in the area behind the Domvs Romana Museum, Rabat (Malta). It was stolen from its showcase in the 1980s. Its physiognomy qualifies it as a representation of any of the abovementioned divinities. A closer examination of its head cover based on available photographs, however, identifies it as part of a statuette of Herakles.