Media Information

 
 
 
Collection:
ADJUNCT MODULE C: WORLD ART
Preferred Title:
Portrait of a Woman [Ariadne-Amalasunta Type]
Alternate Title:
Portrait of Empress Ariadne
Image View:
Overall view from the front left; the eyes were probably inset with paste glass
Creator:
unknown (Byzantine sculptor)
Location:
exhibition: Santa Maria Antiqua (Rome, Lazio, Italy)
Location Note:
Palantine Hill, Roman Forum
GPS:
41.891 12.485583
Date:
ca. 480-525 CE (creation)
Cultural Context:
Byzantine
Style Period:
Byzantine
Work Type 1:
sculpture (visual work)
Classification:
Sculpture and Installations
Material:
white marble
Technique:
carving (processes)
Subjects:
portrait; rulers and leaders; Eastern Roman Empire
Description:
Found in the area of the Lateran Basilica; from the Museo della Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano. There are three similar marble portrait heads; in the Lateran (this one), the Palazzo dei Conservatori and the Louvre. In all probability they portray Ariadne, the wife first of Zenon (Zeno the Isaurian), and, from 491, of Anastasius I (she died in 515 CE). Ariadne was the elder daughter of Leo I and Verina, rulers of the Eastern Roman Empire. The imperial character of all these portraits is identified by their headdress. This consists of a scarf of thin material covering the hair entirely, and in most cases a bonnet made of stiffer material, to which a more or less elaborate crown in attached. Photographed while on exhibition loan to Santa Maria Antiqua. (Source: Alfoldi-Rosenbaum, Elisabeth; Portrait Bust of a Young Lady of the Time of Justinian, Metropolitan Museum Journal, v.1)
Collection:
Archivision Adjunct Module C: World Art
Identifier:
6A2-I-R-RF-SMA-PW2-A 02
Rights:
© Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.

Portrait of a Woman [Ariadne-Amalasunta Type]