Isis, front, slight three-quarter view.
Title
Isis , front , slight three-quarter view .
Date
Late 2nd or early 3rd century
Cultural Context
Ancient Roman Italian European Western European
Style/Period
Roman (ancient Italian style) Imperial (Roman) Greco-Roman
Subject
Sculpture Myths Legends Women Goddesses People associated with religion Supernatural beings Fictitious characters Heads (Anatomy) Clothing & dress Headdresses Headgear Hairstyles Symbols Cobras Snakes Reptiles
Description
"This head of Isis , turned to the right , with delicately parted lips , is almost entirely intact except for the ends of a few locks of hair and the left edge of her tiara . The neck stops at a recessed fitting , a tenon , indicating that the head must have been part of a statue . The Egyptian goddess is recognizable here by her coiled locks (known as Libyan curls) and by some of the decorative symbols on her tiara : the uraeus (cobra) and a feather on the left edge that evokes the quills of a falcon . […] The pomegranate and poppy also adorning the preserved edge of the tiara , the styling of the cow horns as crescent moons that traditionally surround a uraeus , and the small horns surmounting the forehead are unique qualities in this representation . This version is a Greco-Roman syncretization : the pomegranate and poppy also allude to Demeter , while the crescent moon suggests Selene . The bovine appearance of the small horns may correspond to Isis and Hathor . The Greeks and Romans may also have interpreted this element as an allusion to Io , who was transformed into a cow by Hera . […] The very skillful finish given to the skin , the almost abstract symmetry of the arch of the eyebrows , and the style of the pupils and hair - with sections of wavy locks separated by deep grooves - suggests that this work dates from the reign of Commodus (180-192 A.D.) or the Severan dynasty (193-235 A.D.). " (Excerpt from catalogue entry by Ludovic Laugier , p . 236) . Provenance unknown . Purchased in 1817 , formerly in the Marquis de Drée collection (MA 223-INV . LL46) . Restorer : C . Devos , 2005 .
People Pictured
Isis (Egyptian deity)
Material
Marble (rock) Rock Stone (rock)
Measurements
H: 22 7/8 in (58 cm)
Technique
Sculpting Carving (processes)
Work Type
Sculpture Statues
Repository
Musee du Louvre (Paris, France)
Source
Giroire, Cecile, and Daniel Roger. Roman Art from the Louvre. New York: American Federation of Arts in assoc. with Hudson Hills Press, 2007. (p.[237], cat.163).
Rights
Photographs of the works in the exhibition reproduced in Giroire courtesy: Copyright © 2007 Musee du Louvre and the American Federation of Arts/Anne Chauvet, Daniel Lebee, and Carine De Ambrosis.
Digital Publisher
University of Louisville Department of Fine Arts/Allen R. Hite Art Institute Visual Resources Center
Format
image/jpeg
Digital File Name
VRC 762-28.jpg
Rating
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