Statuette of a Personification of a City in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Jan 2010

Statuette Personification of a City
Copper alloy
Byzantine, said to have been found in Rome
300-500 AD

Accession # 47.100.40

Tyche, the concept of chance or fortune, was often connected with cities. Images personifying Tyche appeared in a range of media, including coins, stone reliefs, glass bottles, and stone and copper-alloy sculptures. Here, Tyche sits on a low throne. Wearing a mural crown, chiton and peplos, she holds a cornucopia in her left hand. She extends her right hand, which held a now missing attribute, possibly a staff. It is difficult to identify which city may be represented by the statuette, though Constantinople has frequently been suggested. Regardless of its identification, the sculpture is representative of the small-scale Tyche images common throughout the late Roman and early Byzantine worlds.

Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.