Media Information

 
 
 
Collection:
ADJUNCT MODULE A: ITALIAN ART
Preferred Title:
Portrait of a young woman (so-called 'Sappho')
Image View:
Detail, face
Creator:
unknown (Roman (ancient))
Location:
repository: Museo Archeologico Nazionale (Naples, Campania, Italy) 9084
Location Note:
Piazza Museo Nazionale, 19
GPS:
40.8534 14.2505
Date:
ca. 62-79 CE (creation)
Cultural Context:
Roman (ancient)
Style Period:
Fourth Style; Imperial (Roman)
Work Type 1:
fresco (painting)
Classification:
painting
Material:
pigment on plaster
Technique:
fresco painting (technique)
Measurements:
37 cm (height) x 38 cm (width)
Description:
The painting, in Fourth Style, shows the bust of a girl with a polyptich of four wax tablets in her left hand and a stylus in her right, which she puts to her lips in an affected pose of deep thought. It lacks any attempt to be a real portrait, rather it portrays a type of the docta puella (studious girl), to highlight the fact that the girl belongs to a cultured wealthy family. Discovered in Pompeii, Insula VI 17. (Source: Naples National Archaeological Museum [website]; http://cir.campania. beniculturali.it/mus eoarcheologiconazion ale)
Collection:
Adjunct Module A: Italian Art
Identifier:
7A3-R-NAM-SOP-A02
Rights:
© Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.

Portrait of a young woman (so-called 'Sappho')