ClassificationsGreek and Roman Art

Portrait Bust of a Priestess

Datelate 1st-early 2nd Century CE

Credit LineCarlos Collection of Ancient Art

Dimensions22 1/2 x 14 1/4 x 8 1/4 in. (57.2 x 36.2 x 21 cm)

Object number2005.006.001

Label TextAlthough the identity of the sitter is no longer known, the high-quality marble and expert carving of this portrait bust indicate the woman’s position in elite Roman society. She wears a tunica (light undergarment) under a palla (mantle) wrapped high around her neck and shoulders, and an elaborate coiffure resembling styles made fashionable by female relatives of the emperor Trajan: her hair is arranged in a pile of curls at the front and tight braids that swirl into a bun at the back. The hair is crowned by a thick, rolled fillet (strophion) with ribbons tied in a Hercules knot at the nape of the neck that fall onto her shoulders. This characterizes the woman as a priestess and may suggest an association with the cult of Demeter and Persephone at Eleusis in Greece. The acanthus leaves at the base of the bust also symbolize regeneration and suggest that the sculpture may have been commissioned as a funerary portrait. The back of the bust is roughly finished, indicating that was originally placed in a niche.
Exhibition HistoryPanama-Pacific International Exposition, San Francisco, California, February 20 - December 4, 1915
From Pharaohs to Emperors: New Egyptian and Classical Antiquities at Emory, Michael C. Carlos Museum, January 14 - April 2, 2006
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, March 2007 - August 26, 2013
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, September 25, 2013 - Present
Published ReferencesGalerie Georges Petit, Paris, Catalogue des objects d'art et de haute curiosite de l'antiquite, du moyen-age et de la renaissance...Collections de Mme C. Lelong (8 December 1902), 36, number 139.
Catalogue Canessa's Collection: Panama-Pacific International Exposition (San Francisco: Canessa Printing Co., 1915), number 9.
Ernst Govett et al., Illustrated Catalogue of the Canessa Collection of Rare and Valuable Objects of Art of the Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Gothic and Renaissance Periods (New York, 1919), number 57.
Hans Jucker, Das Bildnis im Blatterkelch: Geschichte und Bedeutung einer romischen Portratform (Olten: Urs Graf-Verlag, 1961), 70-71, St7, taf 23.
Sotheby's New York, Antiquities: Including Property from the Collection of Gustave and Franyo Schindler (December 9, 2004), 86-89, lot 280.
Jerome M. Eisenberg, "The Summer and Autumn 2004 Antiquities Sales," Minerva 16 (March/April 2005): 27-28.
MCCM Newsletter, March - May 2005.
MCCM Newsletter, December 2005 - February 2006.
Peter Lacovara and Jasper Gaunt, "From Pharaohs to Emperors: Egyptian, Near Eastern & Classical Antiquities at Emory," Minerva 17 (January/February 2006): 9-16.
Michael C. Carlos Museum: Highlights of the Collections (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2011), 56.
Susan E. Hylen, Women in the New Testament World (New York: Oxford University Press, 2019), 43-44, Figure 3.1.

ProvenanceEx coll. Laurentine-Francoise Camille Lelong (1840-1902), Paris, France. With Galerie George Petit, Paris, France, December 8, 1902, lot 139. With E.&C. Canessa, New York, New York, 1915-1919. With Alain Moatti, Paris, France, purchased from Etienne Lery, Paris, France, late 1960s. Ex private collection, United States. Purchased by MCCM from Sotheby's New York, December 9, 2004, lot 280.

Status

On view

Collections