Portrait Bust of a Lady

about A.D. 225

Medium

Marble

Dimensions

56 cm

Status

In Museum Collection

Collect24 Art ID

C24-219755

Female portrait bust to about mid-torso, underneath the breasts. She wears a pleated chiton ringing wide around her neck and a deeply folded himation crossing diagonally from the left shoulder and covering half of the right breast. The garments are belted just below the breasts. The woman has a thick, bulbous neck and a jowly double chin. Her facial features are small and compact. The eyes are set close together, looking up and to the right, formed by high arching brows and eyelids. They are rendered with incised eyelids and drilled tear ducts and the right eye is significantly larger. There is a small furrow on the bridge of the nose between the brows. The nose itself is small and mostly missing. The mouth is also small and thin-lipped. The hair appears wispy and thin at the front; it is straight and brushed back behind the ears. It falls to the back of the neck and is then folded over and braided in five braids running back up along the head to just above the forehead. The braids are rendered with geometric patterns (chevrons). The bust is well preserved with little weathering, thought the head has been reattached to the bust with fill. There is also fill on the lef…