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Leda and the Swan lifesize marble statue
Hadrianic age copy of an original (perhaps of the Attic school of the mid-1st century BCE). Venice: Archaeological Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2007.
Keywords: gods, myth, women.
Attis and Cybele relief plaque
The Magna Mater stands to left of Attis while a female worshipper and her daughter approach on the right. From Asia Minor, 2nd Century BCE. Venice: Archaeological Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2007.
Keywords: religion, East, myth, women.
Girl painted terracotta statue
3 ' tall, perhaps in prayer, in Greek style clothing. From Canosa. 3/2 century BCE. London: British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: dress, women.
Luna/Selene bronze lamp
The Moon god in her chariot is drawn by bulls across the sky. 1st century CE. London: British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006
Keywords: gods, myth, women.
Goddess painted terracotta statuette
Artemis sits on her throne with a phiale in her right hand, holding a fawn with her left arm. Boeotia, 350 BCE. London: British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006
Keywords: gods, worship, women.
Woman painted terracotta statuette
Young winged Eros plays a tambourine beside a woman clothed in draperies doing the mantle dance. Corinth, 350 BCE. London: British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006
Keywords: entertainment, women.
Hygeia. Marble statue.
A syncretic statue showing the goddess with a snake on one side, Eros on the other, holding an egg in her right hand and wearing the Venus top-knot.
Roman, made in Turkey, 200 CE. Malibu, Getty Villa. Credits: Ann Raia, 2007.
Keywords: gods, health, women.
Roma/Virtus. Bronze statuette.
Identity unclear because damaged: if the Goddess Roma, she would hold Victory in her outstretched right hand; if Virtus, she would hold a sword.
Roman, 50-75 CE. Malibu, Getty Villa. Credits: Ann Raia, 2007.
Keywords: state, gods.
Two Women. Fragment of a wall fresco.
Intimate portrait of a girl and woman (mother & daughter?) elegantly dressed with jewelry.
Roman, 1-75 CE. Malibu, Getty Villa. Credits: Ann Raia, 2007.
Keywords: women, clothing, domestic, jewellry.
Faustina Maior. Lifesize marble statue.
Deified wife of Antoninus Pius.
Roman, 140-160 CE, from Turkey. Malibu, Getty Villa. Credits: Ann Raia, 2007.
Keywords: empress, empire, state.
Leda and the Swan marble statue
Restored. Head is of Venus.
Roman 1-100 CE. Malibu, Getty Villa. Credits: Ann Raia, 2007.
Keywords: goddess, myth
Isidora. Painted mummy portrait
Linen on wood. Elegantly dressed woman of high social standing. Name on mummy case in Greek="Gift of Isis"
Roman, from Egypt, 100-110 CE. Malibu, Getty Villa. Credits: Ann Raia, 2007.
Keywords: women, clothing, jewellry.
Nyx or Selene small bronze statuette
Cloak billowing behind and toes pointed for landing, the Goddess of the Night is fully dressed and carries an object in her right hand that may be part of a torch; perhaps the moon-goddess Selene.
Roman, 100-1 BCE. Malibu, Getty Villa. Credits: Ann Raia, 2007.
Keywords: goddess, myth
Winged Nemesis small marble statuette
Right foot rests on the neck of a fallen foe; at left a wheel of fortune rests on a globe on a small altar; goddess's hair and face resemble Faustina the Elder, wife of Antoninus Pius (138-161) as Protectoress of the Roman Empire. Image probably stood in the Emperor's shrine.
Roman, 150 CE. Malibu, Getty Villa. Credits: Ann Raia, 2007.
Keywords: goddess, empire, women
Loutrophoros, South Italian red figure ware
Elegantly decorated with narrative zones: upper scene of Zeus, Aphrodite, Cupid; lower scene of seduction of Leda by Zeus as a swan with Hypnos (sleep) nearby. This type of vase was used for the ritual wedding bath; it was also a grave marker for unmarried women.
Apulia, South Italy, 330 BCE. Malibu, Getty Villa. Credits: Ann Raia, 2007.
Keywords: pottery, marriage, funeral, myth.
Aphrodite and Anchises Bronze high relief mirror cover
Partially clad Aphrodite lifting her veil for Trojan Anchises on Mt. Ida, accompanied by Erotes and Anchises' dog. 320 BCE. London: British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: myth, Venus, Aeneas.
Isis and Serapis Silver coin
Hellenized version of Osiris & Apis bull. Cult inaugurated in Alexandria by Ptolemy. 3rd century BCE. London: British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: myth, gods, Egypt.
Apollo & Artemis Silver tetradrachm of Selinus (obverse)
The healing god Apollo aims his bow (at the pestilence) as Artemis in support pilots their quadriga (4 horse war chariot); inscribed in Greek SELINONTION (of the people of Selinus) in honor of Empedocles who stopped the city's devastating malarial plague. Sicily, 5th century BCE. London: British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: myth, gods, health.
Girl/Kore Bronze statuette
Young woman in archaic pose wearing Asiatic Greek clothing; silver details. Purportedly from Verona, Italy. Roman, 1 century BCE/CE. London: British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: women, clothing.
Faustina Maior Gold ring
Made of an aureus with bust of the deified Faustina (inscribed DIVA FAVSTINA), wife of Antoninus Pius. Roman, 150 CE. London: British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: jewelry, empire, empress.
Worshipper of Isis terracotta mold figurine
Hilds the sistrum and garlanded with vegetal fruits. Roman, made in Egypt 50 BCE-50 CE. London: British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: myth, gods, Egypt, religion.
Isis or Worshipper tiny ivory plaque
applique fragment from a box or piece of furniture. Roman, 1st century CE. London: British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: myth, gods, Egypt, religion.
Domitian bronze commemorative coin
In celebration of the Secular Games the emperor is depicted before a temple, dictating a prayer to Juno before the Roman Matrons. Roman, 1st century CE. London: British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: empire, religion, women
Aurelia Philematium, Marble funerary relief
dedicated by Aurelius Hermia, a citizen freedman, to his wife, also freed. Inscription ILS 1221 a, b (see Worlds of Roman Women, p. 47). Rome, 80 BCE. London: British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: class, marriage, women
Muse Lifesize painted terracotta statue
Young woman wearing Greek clothing. One of 8 statues from Porta Latina, Rome 50-100 CE. London: British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: women, clothing.
Argo Terracotta plaque
Athena helps the helmsman Tiphys with the mast; Jason works at the stern. Near Porta Latina, Rome 1st century CE. London: British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: epic, ship, myth.
Comic Slave painted terracotta statuette
Colorful masked slave seated on altar. Campania, 150 BCE. London: British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: comedy, actor, theater.
Magic Nails bronze
Four nails containing signs and inscriptions for defixiones and used at shrines or driven into house doors for protection (the largest contains an incantation to a goddess). London: British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: religion, empire, daily life.
Priestess on a painted Gnathian kantharos
Priestess holding a staff pours libation beneath ivy bower draped with scarves (detail). South Apulia, 290-80 BCE. London: British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: ritual, worship, Magna Graecia, pottery.
Young Vestal priestess, marble head
Wearing headdress of 6 folds of infula with a band and 2 vittae behind the ears (detail). Rome, 100-120 CE. London: British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: state, religion, portrait, women.
Livilla (?), Portrait bust
Small fragment of green chalcedony depicting Julia Livilla or Julia Drusilla, Caligula's sisters. Roman, 37-39 CE. London: British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: empire, sculpture, women.
Necklace, gold with hanging ornaments
A rosette collar with alternating heads of a horned goddess/priestess (of Io? Hera?),women, tiny icons, and seed pods. From the Tomb of the Priestess (together with staff and ring and a figured gold box). Taranto, 350-40 BCE. London: British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: religion, myth, jewellry.
Genius, silver statuette
Spirit of place/group, holding cornucopia and patera. From the Macon hoard. Roman 150-220 CE. London: British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: religion, sculpture.
Gallo-Roman Tutela, silver statuette
Draped Goddess of the City (see mural crown) holding a twinned cornucopia and a patera; the Dioscouri are on her wings, at the tips of which is an arc holding busts of the gods recognizable by their attributes. A tiny garlanded altar is at her feet. From the Macon hoard. Roman 150-220 CE. London: British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: religion, worship, sculpture.
Tombstone of Family, marble
Severe portraits of Lucius Ampudius Philomusus, freedman of Lucius, between daughter (left) and wife wearing Augustan hairstyles; corn measures on each side (family business?). Found near Porta Capena. Rome, 15 BCE-5 CE. London: British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: funerary, sculpture, family.
Life-size portrait statue,
A woman totally draped in the "pudicitia" pose, with elaborate Antonine hairdo (side view). Her head is of Parian marble, her body of Pentelic; originally it was painted. Found in the Temple of Aphrodite in Cyrene, North Africa. Roman, 130-140 CE. London: British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2008.
Keywords: religion, sculpture, women, imperial.
Portrait bust,
Marble torso of a mature elite woman, veiled and draped in the "pudicitia" pose. Roman, Augustan age. Vatican Museum: Gregoriano Profano. Credits: Ann Raia, 2007.
Keywords: sculpture, class, women.
Matidia, marble portrait bust
of Trajan's neice, the mother of Empress Sabina, wearing elaborate Antonine hairdo (side view). Roman, 120 CE. London: British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2008.
Keywords: sculpture, women, imperial.
Tombstone of couple, marble
Inscription. Lucius Antistius Sarculo and Antistia Plutia, his freedwoman. He belonged to the Salian order of priests who opened and closed the military campaign season. Dedicated by two freedmen in recognition of the merit of their patrons. Rome, 30-10 BCE. London: British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: religion, sculpture, death.
Paris, glass cameo-style disc of blue and white
Roman, 27 BCE - 37 CE. Associated with the Portland Vase. London, British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: Myth, epic, glass
Perikles, marble head
Inscribed with his name in Greek letters. Roman, 2nd century CE copy of lost original of 440-30 BCE.London, British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: Greece, statesman
Etruscan Sarcophagos, painted marble.
Seianti Hanuvia Tlesnasa, peering into her mirror, reclines on the lid; her clothing and jewelry mark her as a noblewoman. The front of the sarcophagos is decorated with rosettes and triglyphs. From Poggio Cantarello near Chiusi. Etruscan c. 150-30 BCE. London, British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: Greece, statesman
Strigil, bronze
The handle is in the shape of a nude female athlete, herself holding a strigil to clean her body. Etrusco-Roman, from a sarcophagus in Praeneste, 300 BCE. London, British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: women, Etruscan, athlete
Venus, silver figurine
Fixing her sandal, the crowned goddess stands on one leg and leans on a decorative candalabra topped by 2 erotes holding a fan and a patera. Roman, 200 CE. London, British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: myth, Aphrodite, sculpture
Peleus wrestles with Thetis, bronze statuette
In an attempt to capture the crowned sea goddess as his bride, Peleus holds her as she changes form (note the serpent in her right hand). Etruscan, possibly from Vulci, 410-380 BCE. London, British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: myth, Achilles, Trojan war
Persian Archer, red-figure plate
removing an arrow from his quiver as he runs. Signed by the painter Epiktetos. Athens, 520-500 BCE. London, British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: myth, war, pottery
She-wolf on a circular bronze medallion
She shields and suckles Romulus and Remus. Roman, 50-150 CE. London, British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: myth, Rome
Aeneas and Ascanius discover the sow, marble plaque
The ship from which they disembarked is on the right; the sow sits beneath a tree suckling her brood, the sign that they had reached their goal. Roman, 140-50 CE. London, British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: myth, Italy
Dionysiac Worship, marble plaque
Maenad playing a tambourine, satyr blowing pipes, and the young god with his panther dance. From the Villa Quintiliana on the Appian Way.Roman, 100 CE. London, British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: god, religion, ritual
Actor , bone statuette
Wearing a long robe closed with a wide belt, he holds his heavy mask on his left shoulder; probably a pantomimist as the mask has a closed mouth. Rome, 3rd-4th century CE. London, British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: drama, entertainment
Cleopatra VII , silver tetradrachm
Head of the young Cleopatra wearing a broad diadem band. Ascalon, 50-49 BCE. London, British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: Egypt, Queen, coins
Julia Mamaea, marble bust
Draped, the regent and mother of the young emperor Alexander Severus is distinguished by her hairstyle and strong features. Rome, 192-235 CE. London, British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: empress, empire, sculpture
Paris, marble statue
Dressed in Eastern trousers and cap, he holds out the fateful apple in his right hand (side view). Rome, 2nd century CE. London, British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: myth, Trojan War, sculpture
Venus, marble statue
Nude, she crouches at her bath (side) with an overturned vase at her feet. Roman, 1-2nd century CE copy of a Greek original of the 2nd century BCE. London, British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: goddess, Aphrodite,ritual, sculpture
Tyche, marble statue
Clothed in typical Greek fashion and posed like the caryatids on the porch of the Erectheion on the Acropolis, the goddess wears a murual crown with a veil (left side, right side). Greek 150-100 BCE. Malibu, Getty Villa. Credits: Ann Raia, 2007.
Keywords: goddess, Fortuna, sculpture
Venus, life-size Proconnesian marble statue
Roman copy of 1-2nd century CE, from Greek original of 4th century BCE. London, British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: goddess, Aphrodite, sculpture
Seated Woman, terracotta statue
Mother with infant; possibility Mother-goddess protecting a newborn(high crown-hat, throne-like chair or birthing seat). Boeotia 450-440 BCE. London, British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: goddess, mother, ulpture
Acropolis, model
Airview of 5th century BCE buildings (lower left Perikles Odeion, Theater of Dionysos). London, British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: architecture, Greece, sanctuary
Diadem, gold leaf
Dionysus (?), wearing a garland and holding a pitcher and a libation bowl, stands at the center of this delicate banquet/death crown of leaves and rosettes. South Italy, 250-200 BCE. London, British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: funerary, jewelry, entertainment
Nike Earrings, gold, hanging from a rosette
Large: Nikes each have a different head;
Small: Nikes carry a sword and a wreath in each hand, reversed. Bolsena (made in Taranto), 4th-3rd century BCE. London, British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: jewelry, women, clothing
Boudica (also known erroneously as Boadicea), queen of the British tribe of the Iceni
This bronze sculpture was completed by Thomas Thornycroft in 1850; the monument was erected beside the Thames River in London in 1902. It shows her at the head of the rebellion against the Romans, driving a cart with her daughters beside her (side view, front view,
left,
right). Inscription on the base: Boadicea/ Boudicca/, Queen of the Iceni/ who died A.D. 61/after leading her people/ against the Roman invader.
London: Embankment. Credits: Brenna Thompson, 2008
Keywords: war, women, empire
Pompey, marble head
Copy of the bronze statue in Pompey's Theater. Side view of Magnus. Roman, 30-50 CE. Copenhagen, Glyptoteck Carlsbad. Reconstruction at EUR in Rome; a Claudian age copy of a younger Pompey from a 60 BCE original in Venice Archaeological Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 1999-2008.
Keywords: dictator, general, civil war, triumvir
Young woman: marble draped bust.
Side view showing her elegant hair arrangement. From Aquileia. 3rd century CE. Copenhagen, Glyptoteck Carlsbad. Credits: Ann Raia, 2008.
Keywords: women, empire, sculpture, dress
Fausta, wife of Constantine I
Draped full length statue of the veiled and crowned empress in the Pudicitia pose. Proconnesian marble. From the seat of the College of the Augustales. Ostia Museum. 4th century CE. Credits: Ann Raia, 2007.
Keywords: women, empress, sculpture, dress
Seated Woman, draped and veiled
Marble funerary statue, full-size (left side). From Via Appia. 1st century BCE. Rome, Palazzo Nuovo. Credits: Ann Raia, 2007.
Keywords: women, republic, sculpture, death
Aphrodite, painted terracotta mold statuette
The crowned goddess fastens her necklace (now lost). The pose may derive from a 4th century BCE sculpture by Praxiteles.
Myrina (Asia Minor). 1st century CE. London, British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2008.
Keywords: women, religion
Portrait Bust,marble
A young girl dressed in a Greek chiton and cloak, wears a wig (resembling the hairstyle of the Empress Julia Domna) over her own hair.
Roman, 210-30 CE. London, British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: women, hair, empire
Lamp, with holes for two wicks
Terracotta mold shaped as a bust of the goddess Hera.
From Egypt. 250-150 BCE. London, British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2008.
Keywords: domestic, religion
Curse tablet
Written on a lead plate that was used to sheathe a wood structure of a building. The author of the curse removed the plate, flattened it, and wrote out the curse, after which s/he pierced the plate with seven nails hammered in on the blank side (the number seven was a magical number; small). Found in 1934 below Telegraph Street, Moorgate, London. Early 1st century CE. British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: magic, superstition.
Roman Stylus: 6 types in iron or bronze
Point used for writing on wax-covered wooden tablets; wedge side used for erasures. From various sites in London. 1-2 century CE. London: British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: education, literature, business.
Castor & Pollux statuettes in marble
Twin sons of Leda and Jupiter, they were the horsemen whose appearance led to victory for the Romans at Lake Regillus. In thanksgiving they built a the first temple to them in the Forum (5th century BCE). 1st half of the 3rd century CE. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. Credits: Ann Raia, 2009.
Keywords: religion, myth, gods
Dido: bronze coin
Reverse of a coin of the Emperor Antoninus (obverse: bust of Elagabalus). The Queen of Carthage supervises the building of the city walls; in the field is a myrex shell symbolizing Phoenecia. Inscribed: TVRIORUM. Minted in Tyre, 218-222 CE. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. Credits: Ann Raia, 2009.
Keywords: myth, Aeneas, gods
Marciana: marble head
Sister of Trajan, wearing diadem-like hair structures of the period (Side view). Grandmother of Hadrian's wife Sabina. Hadrianic period (130-138 CE). New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. Credits: Ann Raia, 2009.
Keywords: Empire, Imperial family, hair
Matidia the Elder: marble head
Niece of Trajan, daughter of Marciana, mother of Empress Sabina. View of period hairstyle. 117-138 CE. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. Credits: Ann Raia, 2009.
Keywords: Empire, Imperial family, hair
Sabina: marble head
Wife of Hadrian, Grand Niece of Trajan, daughter of Matidia the Elder. She wears her hair in the diadem fashion of 100 CE (the year of her marriage); the back is arranged in the style of Venus statues. Before 117 CE. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. Credits: Ann Raia, 2009.
Keywords: Empire, Empress, hair
Julia Mamaea: marble head
Regent and mother of Emperor Alexander Severus, she was born and raised in Syria. Niece of Empress Julia Domna. Distinctive hairstyle. 222-235 CE. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. Credits: Ann Raia, 2009.
Keywords: Empire, Imperial family, hair
Portrait head in bronze
An aristocratic Roman matron whose hair arrangement closely resembles that of Agrippina Minor. 50-65 CE. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. Credits: Ann Raia, 2009.
Keywords: Empire,woman, hair
Primigenia and Diogenes: marble funerary altar
This costly memorial was dedicated to the couple, who had lived together 47 years, by their freedpersons and slaves (inscription). The ornamentation echoes that on Augustan monuments: garlands, birds, ram's heads, eagle (side 1 contains the jug for libations, side 2 contains the patera). Julio-Claudian period (14-68 CE). New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. Credits: Ann Raia, 2009.
Keywords: Tombstone, marriage, family
Three Graces bronze gilded medallion
Relief of Aglaia, Euphrosyne, Thalia standing in traditional pose with their arms entwined, flanked by a water hydria and loutrophoros. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. Credits: Ann Raia, 2009.
Keywords: myth, goddess, woman
Three Graces lifesize marble sculpture
Aglaia, Euphrosyne, Thalia (heads missing) stand with their arms entwined; the central goddess with her back to the viewer is flanked by her sisters facing forward and draped water jars (reverse). Handmaidens of Aphrodite, they danced in her festivals. Roman 2nd century CE, copy of a Greek original of the 2nd century BCE. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. Credits: Ann Raia, 2009.
Keywords: myth, goddess, woman
Aurelia Nais, Fishmonger: marble cippus
This elegantly carved memorial was dedicated by two fellow freedmen: her patron, Gaius Aurelius Phileros, a former slave of the same master who freed Nais and Lucius Valerius Secundus, a freedman of Lucius Valerius. inscription: AVRELIA C[ai] L[iberta] NAIS/PISCATRIX DE HORREIS GALBAE/C[aius] AVRELIUS C[ai] L[ibertus] PHILEROS
PATRONVS/L[ucius] VALERIVS L[uci] L[ibertus] SECVNDVS; side 1 contains the jug for libations; side 2 contains the patera. Early 2nd century CE. Rome, Terme Diocletiano. Credits: Ann Raia, 2007
Keywords: death, monument, economy, women, class
Gnome: marble columbarium cover
A simple marker for a hairdresser, its letters are decorated in red. It is inscribed, unusually, with the precise date of death (January 28, 2 BCE): GNOME PIERINIS/ANCILLA ORNATRIX/ELATA EST A[nte] D[iem] V K[alendas] FEBRVARIAS/IMP[eratoris] CAESAR[is]/XIII M[arco] PLAVTIO SILVANO CO[n]S[ulibus]. Rome, Terme Diocletiano. Credits: Ann Raia, 2007
Keywords: death, women, class.
Cameo portrait head, sardonyx
The woman resembles Agrippina the Elder, mother of Caligula, but the absence of imperial insignia suggests it is a private portrait. Roman, 30-40 CE. London: British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: empire, jewellry, women, hair.
Imperial women, portrait busts in marble
The first woman may be Lucilla or Faustina II (daughter or wife of Marcus Aurelius) from Cyrene, North Africa, c. 162-70 CE; the second may be an imperial relative (side, hair) or member of the court, c. 180-200 CE. London: British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: empire, women, hair.
Relief and Inscription on a marble altar
MATRI DEVM ET NAVI SALVIAE/ SALVIAE VOTO SVSCEPTO/CLAVDIA SYNTHYCHE/ D[onum] D[edicavit] (CIL 6.492). Dedicated by Claudia Syntyche to Cybele. The relief depicts Claudia Quinta, an elite Roman matron (see Ovid, Fasti 4.247-348), using a sacred woolen band (infula) to pull the ship Salvia (stuck in the mud at Ostia) up the Tiber, carrying the icon of the Magna Mater from Phrygia to Rome on April 12, 204 BCE, at the command of the Sibylline Books. Roman, 1st century CE.
Rome, Museo Montemartini (Capitoline Museums). Credits: Ann Raia, 2004
Keywords: religion; myth; goddess
Demeter of Cnidos: marble
Seated cult statue of the goddess (head). From Knidos, c. 350 BCE
London, British Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2008
Keywords: Ceres; myth; religion; sculpture
Eleusinian Relief: marble stele
Usually interpreted as Demeter and Persephone giving Triptolemos the ears of wheat to teach the Greeks how to cultivate grain; Demeter hands stalk to Triptolemus while Persephone places a garland (lost)on his head. 27 BCE-14 CE (Augustan Fragments of a Roman copy set in a plaster cast of the original Greek marble relief, ca. 450-425 BCE).
New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: Ceres; Persephone; Hero; myth; religion; sculpture
Funeral Stele limestone
Bas relief of a closely draped woman holding an item in her right hand. The upper portion of the inscription is missing; the remainder preserves her profession: INI (the missing letters are probably her father's name ending in the genitive case) FIL[ia] MEDICA. Gallo-Roman.
Metz, Musee de la Cour d'Or. Credits: Lillian Doherty, 2008
Keywords: death; medicine; sculpture
Messalina: cameo
Bust of the empress, wife and cousin of Emperor Claudius. Before 48 CE.
Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris. Credits: Ann Raia, 2009
Keywords: Empire, jewelry, women
Antonia Minor: cameo
Bust of the mother of Emperor Claudius. Augusta. Before 37 CE.
Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris. Credits: Ann Raia, 2009
Keywords: Empire, jewelry, women
Go to Images Part I; Images Part II; Images Part III; Images Part IV; Images Part V; Images Part VI; Images Part VIII; Images Part IX; Images Part X; Images Part XI; Images Part XII
March 2009
