Advanced Search 
DEACESSIONED September 21, 2006
Sabina
Roman
Imperial Period
about A.D. 136
Medium/Technique
Marble, probably from the Greek island of Paros
Dimensions
Height: 202 cm (79 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Classical Department Exchange Fund
Accession Number1979.556
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsSculpture
Catalogue Raisonné
Sculpture in Stone and Bronze (MFA), no. 048.
DescriptionThis is most likely a portrait statue of Sabina, wife of Emperor Hadrian (A.D. 117-138). The standing figure is modelled on a fourth century B.C. statue that, in conjunction with portrait heads, became popular for representing mature women, particularly in the second century A.D. She is clad in a long chiton with a himation or cloak drawn around her body and up over her head. Her hair is pulled back and twisted into a coil wrapped about the head into a knot in front.
The statue is in excellent condition with only several minor chips.
Scientific Analysis:
Harvard Lab No. HI745: Isotope ratios - delta13C +1.69 / delta18O -3.45, Attribution - Paros 2, Justification - grayish, coarse grained marble and only Paros 2 likely in Western Mediterranean.
The statue is in excellent condition with only several minor chips.
Scientific Analysis:
Harvard Lab No. HI745: Isotope ratios - delta13C +1.69 / delta18O -3.45, Attribution - Paros 2, Justification - grayish, coarse grained marble and only Paros 2 likely in Western Mediterranean.
Provenance1979, sold by Fritz Bürki and Son, Zurich, through Robert E. Hecht, Jr. (agent) to the MFA [see note]; September 21, 2006, deaccessioned by the MFA for transfer to the Republic of Italy.
NOTE: Said to have come from an aristocratic family collection in Bavaria. MFA accession date: November 14, 1979.
For further information, please see: http://www.mfa.org/collections/provenance/antiquities-and-cultural-property/italian-ministry-of-culture-agreement
NOTE: Said to have come from an aristocratic family collection in Bavaria. MFA accession date: November 14, 1979.
For further information, please see: http://www.mfa.org/collections/provenance/antiquities-and-cultural-property/italian-ministry-of-culture-agreement