Description - Comments:

The statue is preserved almost intact, with the exception of the inset head, the left wrist, the toes of the right foot and the front part of the circular plinth. Also broken off are a small part of the edge of the himation below the left slightly outstretched forearm, and a small part high up on the figure's back. Smaller breaks and chipping are evident sporadically on the surface of the marble. It depicts a standing, frontal woman wearing a long chiton (with a horizontally sewn band across the neck), a himation that tightly envelopes the body (including the arms), and Hellenistic type sandals (the soles follow the outline of the toes). It follows the statuary type of the so-called “Small Herculaneum Woman” with the exception of the slightly different placement of the right leg and left hand. More specifically, the weight of the body falls on the left leg, with the right leg is slightly bent and placed sideways, but quite far back. The left arm is bent diagonally across the chest with the wrist resting on the left shoulder, but the left arm is not brought down, but is slightly raised and extended. High quality of workmanship.

Bibliography:

I. Threpsiadis, “Επανέκθεσις Μουσείου Θηβών”, ArchEph 1963 Chronicles, 21, pl. ΙΘβ; H. Kruse, Römische weibliche Gewandstatuen des zweiten jahrhunderts n.Chr., Göttingen 1975, 296, no. 106; K. Demakopoulou, D. Konsola, Archaeological Museum of Thebes, Athens 1981, 80, no. BE 64, fig. 28; M. Bonanno-Αravantinos, “Due ritratti di età antonina nel Museo archeologico di Τebe”, in J. Bouzek, I. Ondrejova eds., Roman Portraits, Artistic and Literary, Acts of the Third International Conference on the Roman Portraits held in Prague and in the Bechině Castle from 25 to 29 September 1989, Mainz 1997, 57, note 9; A. Alexandridis, Die Frauen des römischen Kaiserhauses: eine Untersuchung ihrer bildlichen Darstellung von Livia bis Iulia Domna, Mainz am Rhein 2004, 247, no. 120 (late Hellenistic); J. Daehner ed., The Herculaneum Women: History, Context, Identities, Los Angeles/Dresden 2007, 129, fig. 5.9 (C. Vorster· late Hellenistic); V. Aravantinos, Το Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Θηβών, Athens 2010, 346 (left; late 2nd – early 3rd c. CE); Μ. Bonanno-Aravantinos, “La scultura di eta romana nella Beozia: importazioni e produzioni locali”, in Th. Stephanidou-Tiveriou, P. Karanastasi, D. Damaskos eds., Κλασική παράδοση και νεωτερικά στοιχεία στην πλαστική της ρωμαϊκής Ελλάδας. Πρακτικά διεθνούς συνεδρίου, Θεσσαλονίκη, 7-9 Μαϊου 2009, Athens 2012, 235 (priestess).