CIRCA 2ND CENTURY A.D.

Details

A ROMAN MARBLE CERES
CIRCA 2ND CENTURY A.D.
The goddess half lifesized, standing with her weight on her left leg, the right leg bent, clad in a tightly-fitted stola, held by thin straps over her shoulders forming V-shaped folds below her collar, falling in deep pleats above her feet, a palla wrapped around her shoulders, bisecting her breasts and hanging in diagonal folds along her right side, and once pulled up over her head as a veil, her left arm lowered, clutching poppies and a sheath of wheat, her right arm out to the side and bent acutely at the elbow, clad in open-toed sandals, standing on an integral plinth
37 13/16 in. (96 cm.) high

Provenance

with Arte alla Riva, Ascona, acquired in 1978.
with Jean Olansizyn, Lausanne, acquired from the above in 1984.

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Lot Essay

Due to her association with fertility, Ceres and her characteristic iconography were utilized during the Roman Empire for portraits of female members of the imperial family (see p. 47 in B. S. Spaeth, The Roman Goddess Ceres). In the 2nd century A.D., numerous examples of empresses in the guise of the goddess are known, including Faustina the Elder and Vibia Sabina, who were depicted holding the torch of Ceres in their right hand, while clasping sheaths of wheat and poppies in their left (see no. 27 in op. cit., nos. 189-90 in S. de Angeli, "Demeter/Ceres," in LIMC, vol. IV). While it is impossible to confirm if the present example once depicted a member of the imperial family, the iconography is closely related to these portraits that sought to stress the imperial woman's role as progenetrix of the royal bloodline.

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