Museum/Current place of storage: |
Sparta, Archaeological Museum. |
Inv. no: |
443 |
Dimensions: |
|
Material: |
H. 1,65m. |
Findspot: |
Unknown (probably near the so-called “Leonidaeum” [see E. Kourinou, Σπάρτη. Συμβολή στη μνημειακή τοπογραφία της, Athens 2000, 216 σημ. 746], where a male portrait statue [Sparta Museum inv. no. 11731+12331] was found; the statue must probably be identified as a representation of the dedicator of the family statue group - part of which was the present statue - Tiberius Claudius Spartiaticus I; as mentioned by A. Themos [1999, 60 note 8] at the beginning of the 20th c. the British School at Athens excavated a bath near the findspot of the male statue, the construction of which is possible to have been financed by Tiberius Spartiaticus I - see also A.D. Rizakis, S. Zoumbaki, Cl. Lepenioti, Roman Peloponnese II. Roman Personal Names in Their Social Context, Athens 2004, 208 [3], 210 in cat. no. LAC 326 with bibliography). |
Original Display Location: |
Unknown (see above). |
Date: |
Late Antonine – early Severan period, based on the inscription on the base and the other members of her family that were included in the same family statue group (see in detail Rizakis et al. 2004, 144, 208-209, cat. nos. LAC 220 and 326). |
Statuary Type (body) : |
“Small Herculaneum Woman”. |
Mode of Self-Representation (head): |
- |
Civic Presence (Social Role Represented): |
Member of an elite local family of Sparta. |
Inscribed Base: |
Yes (IG V 1, 499). |
Author: |
Panagiotis Konstantinidis |
Added: |
2024-09-26 |
Edited: |
Description - Comments:
The figure is broken diagonally across the chest and the upper part of the torso is missing. She wears a chiton, a long himation that wraps around the body, and sandals. The weight of the figure falls on the left leg, while the right leg is free. The right arm is bent diagonally across the chest, while the left is placed at the side downwards. The base preserves the inscription, which mentions the name of the depicted, Claudia Damostheneia (III), pointing to the fact that the commission was made by a family member (probably her father, Tiberius Claudius Spartiaticus [I], son of Brasidas, prominent member of Spartan society and, among other functions, priest of Rome and the imperial cult – see in detail Themos 1999, 59-60, no. 3, pl. 9.1; Rizakis 2004, 208-209 cat. no LAC 326, also ibid. 584 stemma VI), since she is mentioned simply as a “daughter”. The statuary type is indicative of her young age and the fact that she was unmarried. Non vidi.
Bibliography:
M.N. Tod, A.J.B. Wace, A Catalogue of the Sparta Museum, Oxford 1906, 178, cat. no. 443; H. Kruse, Römische weibliche Gewandstatuen des zweiten jahrhunderts n.Chr., Göttingen 1975, 296, no. 101; A. Themos, “Επιγραφές από τη Σπάρτη”, Horos 13 (1999), 60; A. Alexandridis, Die Frauen des römischen Kaiserhauses: eine Untersuchung ihrer bildlichen Darstellung von Livia bis Iulia Domna, Mainz am Rhein 2004, 247, no. 115.