https://classicalchopped2.artinterp.org/omeka/files/original/6eb406eb7760d409ac00380fdf4452a5.jpg 32a7caa827e3b2a236122a97a5e35332 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Marcia Furnilla Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 191cm tall Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Most likely find spot was the "Flavians' Villa" at Frattochie, near Lake Albano, Italy, though some scholars have proposed the statue was originally situated in a tomb along the Via Appia. Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, Denmark Provenance A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource. The portrait is probably of Marcia Furnilla (b. 43CE - d.unk), wife of the future emperor Titus (reigned 79-81CE). Married in 65CE, divorced several years later. This attribution is not universally accepted by scholars. Description An account of the resource Description: The head of middle-aged matron appears on a nude, youthful body in the so-called "modest [pudica] Venus" pose. The weight is placed on the left leg (which is braced with a carved support), the right leg relaxed in a contraposto arrangement. Her plain, almost masculine face betrays signs of age in the folds under the eyes and in the naso-labial lines. Her nose is long and narrow; her mouth is wide with moderately thin lips. The head is angled slightly forward, giving her a wary expression. The coiffure is extremely elaborate in the Flavian style, with a dominating armature of hair outlining the face, and a tight bun behind. Deep drilling renders the hair curls. The nose is chipped; two fingers on right hand and the entire left forearm is missing. On the plinth, to the figure's right, are two small feet, presumably the remains of the child Amor (Cupid), companion of Venus in traditional representations. Significance: This guise portrait harkens back to well-known representations of Venus/Aphrodite. In particular, it recalls the "Capitoline Venus," itself a copy Praxiteles's 4th century BCE Aprhodite of Knidos, depicting the goddess stepping out of the bath. The missing left hand would have covered her pudenda, while the right arm crosses her left breast in an attitude of pudicitia (a gesture of modesty in which the hands and arms cover the private parts). The nude female portrait is a Roman invention; in Greek art, female portraits are always clothed. This peculiar age-youth hybridization had been featured in male imperial portraits before. The fact that it here extends to an elite woman is significant. The effect of the middle-aged face coupled to a youthful body is unsettling, even grotesque, to modern sensibilities. But for ancient elite Romans such juxtapositions were considered perfectly normal. In this case, a respectable Roman matron, possibly the wife of an emperor, is presented in the divine guise of Venus, one of the state gods of Rome, as well as representative of fecundity. The somewhat shocking combination of the lush nude body on a respectable Roman matron must be read as an allusion to her fecundity, and primary role as bearer of male children. References A related resource that is referenced, cited, or otherwise pointed to by the described resource. Breckenridge, James. Likeness: A Conceptual History of Ancient Portraiture, Northwestern University Press, 1968, pp. 201- 202 D'Ambra, Eva. "The Calculus of Venus: Nude Portraits of Roman Matrons." Sexuality in Ancient Art: Near East, Egypt, Greece, Rome, edited by Natalie Kampen and Bettina Bergmann, Cambridge University Press, 1996, pp. 219-232. Hallett, Christopher. The Roman Nude: Heroic Portrait Statuary 200 BC - 300 AD, Oxford University Press, 2005, pp. 199- 201. Johansen, Flemming. Catalogue of Roman Portraits II, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, 1995, p. 50. Kleiner, Diana. Roman Sculpture, Yale University Press, 1992, pp. 177-179. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Mark Weadon Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Roman Imperial (Flavian) c. 80-100 CE Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource unknown Medium The material or physical carrier of the resource. marble