Statue of a Seated Woman

Description

Roman sculptors often adapted the forms of earlier Greek artworks for use in entirely new contexts. This statue evokes the figures of seated, draped goddesses displayed in the pediments of the Parthenon, the renowned temple on the Acropolis in Athens. Among the Romans, this statue type was widely used for sculptures of female deities such as Juno (the Greek Hera), the consort of Jupiter (the Greek Zeus), as well as for portraits of empresses and other prominent women. Here the figure’s head and arms, now missing, were made separately and attached by means of dowels, the holes for which are visible.

Provenance

Bindell Family collection, Germany, from the 19th century [according to correspondence in curatorial object file]; McAlpine Ancient Art, London, England, by 1986; sold to Art Institute of Chicago, 1986.

Statue of a Seated Woman

Ancient Roman

2nd century

Accession Number

65244

Medium

Marble

Dimensions

82 × 63.5 × 38.2 cm (32 3/8 × 25 × 15 in.)

Classification

marble

Museum

The Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, United States

Credit Line

Katherine K. Adler Memorial Fund