Portrait-head of a woman from a statue or bust
Artist
Unknown Roman artist
Date14–68
MediumCopper alloy (bronze), sheet silver
Dimensionsheight, width, and depth: 12 1/2 × 8 × 8 3/4 in. (31.7 × 20.3 × 22.2 cm)
thickness: 0.157–0.197 in. (0.4–0.5 cm)
thickness: 0.157–0.197 in. (0.4–0.5 cm)
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LinePurchased with funds from the North Carolina State Art Society (Robert F. Phifer Bequest), the State of North Carolina, and various donors, by exchange
Object number95.6
On View
On viewFacial features and hairstyle suggest the portrayed woman is of the Julio-Claudian imperial family. Her exact identity is unknown, but the Diva Augusta diadem (crown) hints she may be either Livia (wife of Augustus, the first emperor of Rome) or Agrippina the Younger (wife of Emperor Claudius and Augustus’s granddaughter), both extremely powerful women.
[C. Rocheleau, "The People's Collection, Reimagined," 2022]
Discover more at NCMA Learn.ProvenanceProvenience unknown. Amanda Lisse, Herne, Germany [1]; [Robert Haber & Associates, New York, by 1994]; sold to NCMA, 1995.
[1] Per Haber, see invoice dated April 26, 1995. No further information provided about the collector.Published ReferencesLa Chronique des Arts (supplement to Gazette des Beaux-Arts) no. 1526 (March 1996), 55, illus.
Carol C. Mattusch, The Fire of Hephaistos: Large Classical Bronzed from North American Collections (exhibition catalogue) (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Art Museums, 1996), cat. no. 41, illus. (color) pl. 8, (b-w) 299), (b-w details) 300.
Nancy Stapen, "Smashing Assumptions Cast in Bronze," Boston: The Boston Globe (May 28, 1996), 32, illus.
Sandra E. Knudsen, "The Fire of Hephaistos: Large Classical Bronzes from North American Collections," (exhibition review) Minerva 7, no. 3 (May/June 1996), illus. 29.
Sally Vallongo, "Museum's exhibit of classic bronzes tells the vivid story of a civilization," Toledo: The Toledo Blade (October 13, 1996), illus. 1[?].
Jason Edward Kaufmann, "Bronzes, the rarest and most valuable classical art," The Art Newspaper 63 (October 1996), 13.
Carol C. Mattusch, Myth, Man & Metal: Bronze Sculptures of Ancient Greece and Rome, Video Lecture Series-Vol. 3 (Cincinnati: Institute for Mediterranean Studies, 1996), videotape. Video length: 31:15.
Mary Ellen Soles, entry for Head of a Woman in the Guise of a Goddess, in North Carolina Museum of Art: Handbook of the Collections, Rebecca Martin Nagy, ed. (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 1998), 8, 32, illus. (color) 32.
Preview: The Magazine of the North Carolina Museum of Art (November/December 2004), illus. (color) 7.
Gods in Color: Painted Sculpture of Classical Antiquity (exhibition catalogue) (Munich: Biering & Brinkmann, 2007), briefly discussed 125, illus. (b-w, as Portrait of Livia) 125, fig. 218, detail (b-w) 125, fig. 219 (catalogue only, not in exhibition).
Mary Ellen Soles, entry for Head of a Woman in the Guise of a Goddess, in North Carolina Museum of Art: Handbook of the Collections, rev. ed. (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 2010), 66, illus. (color) 67, also mentioned and illus. (color) 9.
Jennifer Whitaker, "Head of a Woman in the Guise of a Goddess" in “You Are the River: Literature Inspired by the North Carolina Museum of Art,” edited by Helena Feder (Raleigh, NC: North Carolina Museum of Art, 2021), illus (color) 100. (as "Head of a Woman in the Guise of a Goddess")
North Carolina Museum of Art, "The People's Collection," (Raleigh, NC; North Carolina Museum of Art, 2024), 129, illus. (color) 160.Exhibition HistoryCambridge, MA, Harvard University, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, "The Fire of Hephaistos: Large Classical Bronzes from North American Collections," April 19-August 10, 1996; Toledo, OH,Toledo Museum of Art, October 13, 1996-January 5, 1997, cat. no. 41, illus. (color) plate 8, (b-w) 299, (b-w details) 300.
Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, “Art for the People: Recent Museum Acquisitions,” September 14, 1997-January 4, 1998. (Closing date extended to January 25, 1998)
Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "Objects of Desire: The Museum \Collects, 1994-2004," July 18, 2004-February 27, 2005.
Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "The People's Collection, Reimagined," October 7, 2022–present. Object Rights Statement
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