Artwork Page for Portrait Bust of the Empress Claudia Octavia

Details / Information for Portrait Bust of the Empress Claudia Octavia

Portrait Bust of the Empress Claudia Octavia

50–70 CE

Italy, Roman

Medium
marble
Measurements
Overall: 38.2 cm (15 1/16 in.)
Credit Line
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1925.943
Public Domain
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Location
103 Roman
Print
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Did You Know?

The complex coiffure includes four elements: parted waves (top), tight curls (sides), hanging ringlets (shoulders, back), and a braided knot (back).

Description

This portrait bust depicts a young woman whose idealized features and elaborate hairstyle may identify her as the empress Claudia Octavia (r. AD 54-62), unfortunate first wife of the notorious emperor Nero. Over her tunic she wears a stola, a long garment hanging from both shoulders and distinguishing her as a married, upper-class woman. Although beloved by the Roman citizenry and described by the historian Tacitus as “aristocratic and virtuous,” Octavia was eventually divorced and banished by Nero, then ordered put to death.
Marble bust of a woman looking slightly to our right, full lips pressed together with the corners turning slightly down, her nose broken away. Her hair has been parted down the middle with vertical waves running across to top of the head before transitioning to tight curls at the sides and ringlets falling down the back of their neck. On her shoulders the folds of a stola, a pleated robe, fall over her tunic.

Portrait Bust of the Empress Claudia Octavia

50–70 CE

Italy, Roman

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