Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art

About this Work

Portraits of private citizens were frequently commissioned and placed in public spaces and private homes to honor or memorialize prominent individuals. These statues were almost certainly accompanied by inscriptions, but, since inscriptions are frequently lost or damaged, their subjects have become anonymous. Portraits of citizens, however, often follow the fashions of imperial portraiture and, thus, dating is sometimes possible. The hairstyle of this elegant woman, for instance, was popular at the end of the reign of Augustus and throughout the reign of Tiberius. This portrait is very finely carved; the plug at the base of the bust indicates that it was originally attached to some kind of plinth or inserted into an architectural niche.