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Home Livia as Ceres [or Fortuna], front view.

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Livia as Ceres [or Fortuna], front view.

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Larger Image	Larger image may be viewed by UofL faculty, staff, and students only (log-in required using ULink username/password) at: http://echo.louisville.edu/login?url=http://vrc-web.louisville.edu/Jpegs/760/762-05.jpg
Title	Livia as Ceres [or Fortuna], front view.
Date	20 [CE]?
Cultural Context	Ancient Roman Italian European Western European
Style/Period	Roman (ancient Italian style) Imperial (Roman) Julio-Claudian
Theme	Sculpture (visual work) Statues Figurative art Figures (representations) Front views Portraits Historiated portraits Women Empresses Rulers (people) Leaders (people) Royalty Monarchs Goddesses Myths (literary documents) Mythology (literary genre) Legends (folk tales) Folk tales Folklore Standing Costume (mode of fashion) Stolas Pallae (outerwear) Mantles (outerwear) Drapery (representations) Crowns (headdresses) Flowers (plants) Plants (vegetation) Headdresses Headgear Headcloths (headgear) Veils (headcloths) Headbands (headgear) Hairstyles Symbolism (artistic concept) Symbols Cornucopias (motifs) Fruit Food
Subject	Sculpture Portraits Women Empresses Rulers People associated with politics & government Goddesses People associated with religion Supernatural beings Fictitious characters Myths Legends Standing Clothing & dress Robes Veils Crowns Flowers Plants Headdresses Headbands (Headgear) Headgear Hairstyles Symbols Cornucopias Poppies Wheat Fruit Grapes Food
Description	"[…] this statue of Livia, wife of Augustus, underwent not only many modern restorations but also additions such as the arms, the cornucopia, part of the crown of flowers, and large pieces of veil around the neck. Given these circumstances, it is legitimate to wonder about the sculpture's original appearance. […] Its restorers […] wanted to complete the statue with attributes of the goddess Ceres, or Fortuna, with poppies, ears of wheat, and a cornucopia, but we do not know whether this was a case of restoring lost symbols of divinity or rather a justification for adapting a head of Livia, wearing a crown of flowers, to this statue. […] Livia is represented here in a stola - a long, full-length pleated robe worn by married women and Roman matrons, and the female equivalent to a toga. She is draped in a palla - a simple square mantle wrapped around the body, which here also serves to cover the hair - with long folds falling over the arms in a cold and severe classical style. […] This Livia wears a crown of flowers and an infula, a ritual headband, beneath her veil. The ends of the headband are decorated with pearls and hang down over her neck. The presence of the infula may be related to various priesthoods […]. But the infula is also connected to the worship of Ceres. On the Louvre statue, the larger-than-life size of the body and head supports the suggestion that this piece represents a deity. […] Thus it is quite possible that the head of the statue shown here belonged to a Livia depicted as the goddess Ceres or Fortuna. […] Clearly, the question of what the sculptor truly wished to depict - was it a matron, a priestess, or a deity? - is complex. […] The only thing that the artist has allowed us to perceive with certainty here is that this is indeed a portrait of Livia." (Excerpt from catalogue entry by Daniel Roger, p. 70). Discovered in Rome (?). Purchased in 1807, formerly in the Borghese collection (MA 1242-INV. MR 259; N 80). Restorers: B. Cavaceppi, ca. 1780, and D. Ibled, 2006.
People Pictured	Livia, Empress, consort of Augustus, Emperor of Rome, ca. 58 BCE-29 CE Ceres (Roman deity) Fortuna (Roman deity)
Material	White marble Marble (rock) Rock Stone (rock)
Measurements	H: 86 5/8 in (220 cm)
Technique	Sculpting Carving (processes)
Work Type	Sculpture Statues Portraits
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.[69], cat.15).
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 762-05.jpg
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Livia as Ceres [or Fortuna], front view.

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