Goddess or Personification in the Princeton University Art Museum, August 2009

Bust of a goddess or personification
ca. 160–190 A.D.

Roman

White marble with grey veining

h. 86.2 cm., w. 40.6 cm., d. 26.8 cm. (33 15/16 x 16 x 10 9/16 in.) (preserved)

Geographic Attribution: Turkey / /

Museum purchase, Fowler McCormick, Class of 1921, Fund, in acknowledgment of the dedicated service, to the Advisory Council of the Princeton University Art Museum, of Kathleen Compton Sherrerd, Barry Munitz, Garduate School Class of 1968, Duane E. Wilder, Class of 1951, and Stuart P. Feld, Class of 1957

Object Number: 2004-38

Text from: artmuseum.princeton.edu/art/collections/ancient/search/

and

Goddess or Personification
Roman, Asia Minor, Late Antonine, ca. 160-190 AD
White marble with gray veins

# 2004-38

The colossal scale, the dowel channel for attaching the right arm, the downward gaze, and the cursory carving of the back of the head suggest that this imposing bust of a woman was broken from a statue occupying a niche in the wall of a public building, such as a bath or theater. It was meant to be seen from below, where the rough drillwork of the drapery would not have been visible. She is no ordinary woman, but her identity is unknown. She may be a goddess, such as Aphrodite or Artemis who sometimes are represented with their hair tied in a topknot. The contrast between the hard, angular, brows and softly modeled flesh of the face and neck is characteristic of sculptures of ideal type in Roman Asia Minor, where geographic regions, such as Caria or Psidia, were also commonly represented as women. Comparison with similar works, carved from the same distinctive marble, suggests that it may have been among the sculptures found at the Carian site of Aphrodisias, in 1904-05, by the French engineer Paul Gaudin.

Text from the Princeton University Art Museum label.