The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 28, 2023

Portrait Bust of the Empress Claudia Octavia

AD 50–70

Italy, Roman, 1st Century

Marble

Overall: 38.2 cm (15 1/16 in.)

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1925.943

Location

103 Roman

Fun Fact

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.

Provenance
?-1925
Bruno Tartaglia, Rome, Italy, through Harold Parsons, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
1925-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Howard, Rossiter. "Two Roman Portraits." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 13, no. 1 (1926): 8-13.
Howard, Rossiter. "Two Roman Portraits." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 13, no. 1 (1926): 8-13. www.jstor.org
Howard, Rossiter. "Two Roman Portraits." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 13, no. 1 (1926): 8-13.
Howard, Rossiter. "Roman Portrait Head." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 15, no. 7 (1928): 147-53. Mentioned p. 148. www.jstor.org
R. H. "Roman Portrait Head." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 15, no. 7 (1928): 147-53. Mentioned, p. 148. www.jstor.org
Howard, Rossiter. "Roman Portrait Head." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 15, no. 7 (1928): 147-53. Mentioned, p. 148.
Bieber, Margarete. “Roman Sculpture in the Cleveland Museum.” Art in America 32 (April 1944): 65–83. Ill. fig. 7 (p. 72), discussed p. 74.
Bieber, Margarete. “Roman Sculpture in the Cleveland Museum.” Art in America 32 (April 1944): 65–83. Ill. fig. 7 (p. 72), discussed p. 74.
Bieber, Margarete. “Roman Sculpture in the Cleveland Museum.” Art in America 32 (April 1944): 65–83.Ill. fig. 7 (p. 72), discussed p. 74.
Cleveland Museum of Art. Art of the Seaway Nations. [Cleveland]: [East Ohio Gas Co.], 1959.
Worcester Art Museum, and Michael Milkovich. Roman Portraits: [a Loan Exhibition of Roman Sculpture and Coins from the First Century B.C. Through the Fourth Century A.D., by Michael Milkovich, April 6-May 14, 1961]. [Worchester, Mass.]: [Worchester Art Museum], 1961. no. 11, pp/ 30
Kleiner, Diana E. E., and Susan B. Matheson. I, Claudia: Women in Ancient Rome. New Haven, Conn: Yale University Art Gallery, 1996. Reproduced: p. 168. #123; Mention: pp. 168-169
Kleiner, Diana E. E., and Susan B. Matheson. I, Claudia: Women in Ancient Rome. New Haven, Conn: Yale University Art Gallery, 1996. Reproduced: p. 168. #123; Mention: pp. 168-169.
Kleiner, Diana E. E., and Susan B. Matheson. I, Claudia: Women in Ancient Rome. New Haven, Conn: Yale University Art Gallery, 1996. Reproduced: p. 168. #123; Mention: pp. 168-169
Vermeule, Cornelius C. Art and Archaeology of Antiquity. London: Pindar Press, 2001. pp. 30-31
Exhibition history

Roman Portraits, The Worcester Art Museum, MA (April 6-May 15, 1961).

Art of the Seaway Nations, Community Room of the East Ohio Gas Company, Cleveland, OH (Week of April 20, 1959).

The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941).

Roman Portrait Sculpture. Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA (organizer) (April 6-May 15, 1961).

I Claudia, Women in Ancient Rome. Yale University Art Gallery (organizer) (September 6-December 1, 1996); San Antonio Museum of Art (December 20, 1996-March 2, 1997); North Carolina Museum of Art (April 6-June 15, 1997).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1925.943