A ROMAN MARBLE HEAD OF A GODDESS

The idealised, beautiful features of this over-life sized head point towards the representation of a deity, rather than the portrait of an individual. However, in the absence of any identifying attributes, it is not possible to establish with certainty who the goddess might have been. Her thick, unswept, wavy locks cover the top of her small ears and are tied at the back in a chignon. The remains of an iron pin at the crown of the head signal the presence of a now-missing attribute, possibly a diadem.

The simple hair style, centrally parted into a chignon at the back and tied with a thin fillet, with some locks falling at the back over the shoulders, is close to the type of the famous 2nd century B.C. statue of the Venus de Milo, which derived from a 4th century Greek original. Representations of the goddess, who embodied the ideal of Classical female beauty, were extremely popular with the Romans, who produced huge numbers of copies to be placed in public spaces such as theatres, forums, baths or gymnasia, as well as private gardens and villas.