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Bust of a woman
Roman
Imperial Period
about A.D. 140-150
Medium/Technique
Marble, from Göktepe, Turkey (near Aphrodisias)
Dimensions
Overall: 48 × 20.3 × 24.8 cm (18 7/8 × 8 × 9 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Henry Lillie Pierce Fund
Accession Number04.284
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsSculpture
Catalogue Raisonné
Sculpture in Stone (MFA), no. 358; Sculpture in Stone and Bronze (MFA), p. 115 (additional published references).
DescriptionPortrait bust of an unknown woman. The bust extends to just below the figure’s breasts. Her head is turned to the right. Her skin is smooth and free of blemishes. The almond-shaped eyes are close-set and narrow with thin lids. The iris is lightly incised and the drilled pupil is located near the upper lid, directing the gaze up and to the right. She has a narrow forehead and an overall square-shaped face that ends in a pointed chin. Her nose is aquiline and her mouth small but with full lips. A row of tightly bound, spiral curls line the woman’s face. The front section of her hair is parted in the center and pulled back in waves. The top section of hair has been styled in the so-called turban coiffure (Turbanfrisur), in which the hair is braided into thin sections, with the braids coiled on top of her head. At the back of her head, the hair has been sectioned into thicker braids that are pulled up and gathered with the thin, coiled braids at the back of the head. The woman wears a tunica fastened at the shoulders. The tunica appears to be slipping down the woman’s left shoulder, likely an allusion to the beauty and sensuality of Venus. The thin hem of the garment has been incised.
The head, bust, and tabula have all been carved from the same block of stone. The tip of the nose, rims of the ears, and edges of the bust are slightly chipped, while parts of the forehead into the right eye are damaged. The curls of the hair are also damaged from the central part to the proper right. Cracks run down from the forehead through the right eye to beneath the chin and in front of the left ear, also to beneath the chin. Acid also appears to have been used at some point to clean the surface.
Scientific Analysis:
University of South Florida Lab No. 8429: Isotope ratios - delta13C +2.6 / delta18O -3.0,
Istituto di Struttura della Materia - CNR Lab No. 6 (January 30, 2012): maximum grain size: 0.55mm; electron paramagnetic resonance: intensity 1.6%, line width 54.5%; color 77%
Attribution - Göktepe, Turkey (near Aphrodisias). Justification - C and O isotopes, fine grain, low EPR intensity
The head, bust, and tabula have all been carved from the same block of stone. The tip of the nose, rims of the ears, and edges of the bust are slightly chipped, while parts of the forehead into the right eye are damaged. The curls of the hair are also damaged from the central part to the proper right. Cracks run down from the forehead through the right eye to beneath the chin and in front of the left ear, also to beneath the chin. Acid also appears to have been used at some point to clean the surface.
Scientific Analysis:
University of South Florida Lab No. 8429: Isotope ratios - delta13C +2.6 / delta18O -3.0,
Istituto di Struttura della Materia - CNR Lab No. 6 (January 30, 2012): maximum grain size: 0.55mm; electron paramagnetic resonance: intensity 1.6%, line width 54.5%; color 77%
Attribution - Göktepe, Turkey (near Aphrodisias). Justification - C and O isotopes, fine grain, low EPR intensity
ProvenanceBy date unknown: with Edward Perry Warren; purchased by MFA from Edward Perry Warren, January 19, 1904