CIRCA 1ST CENTURY A.D.

Details

A ROMAN MARBLE DRAPED WOMAN
CIRCA 1ST CENTURY A.D.
Depicted standing on an irregular integral plinth with her weight on her right hip, the left leg relaxed and bent at the knee, the foot drawn back, wearing a palla over a pleated floor-length tunic, the U-shaped folds of the palla on either side of her body contrasting with the deep vertical folds of the tunic, the tips of her high-soled shoes emerging from below the hem, holding pomegranates and a sheaf of wheat in her left hand, which is folded across her body below her breasts, her right arm bent to her chest in the so-called pudicitia pose, her hand clutching the folds of her drapery
59¼ in. (150.5 cm.) high

Provenance

Acquired by the current owner in the mid 1960s.

Lot Essay

The term pudicitia refers to the chastity or modesty of women and is used to describe the pose commonly adopted by women for funerary statues and reliefs. Pomegranates and sheaves of wheat are symbols of the Eleusinian mysteries which are connected with the death and rebirth of Persephone. As such these symbols are fitting attributes on a funerary monument. For a similar example in the Louvre compare fig. 619 in Bieber, Ancient Copies, Contributions to the History of Greek and Roman Art.

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