The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 29, 2025

Portrait Bust of an Aristocratic Woman

280–90 CE
marble
Overall: 31.5 x 19 x 10.8 cm (12 3/8 x 7 1/2 x 4 1/4 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1965.244
Location: 104 Late Antiquity

Description

These three pairs of marble portrait busts depict an aristocratic Roman couple. They are unique in representing the same couple three times with only minor variations in costume. Allegedly found together with the Jonah Marbles, they may represent the Christian patrons who commissioned the Jonah cycle.
  • according to William Wixom, an unconfirmed report tells us that the entire group (1965.237-1965.247) was found in a single, huge pithos or jar. (J. J. Klejman, New York).
  • McColl, Donald Alexander. Early Christian Sculptures at Cleveland in Their Eastern Mediterranean Context. 1991.
    Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.), Margaret English Frazer, and Kurt Weitzmann. Age of Spirituality: Late Antique and Early Christian Art Third to Seventh Century. New York: The Museum, 1977. 407-411
    Kitzinger, Ernst. 1978. "The Cleveland Marbles". I Monumenti Cristiani Preconstantiniani. 653-675.
    Lehman, Karen M. "Sacred and Profane Hellenizing Marbles of the Late Third Century Roman Empire: Secular Portraits and Religious Narrative Sculptures in the Cleveland Museum of Art Reviewed in the Cultural Context." M.A. thesis, Kent State University, 2004. Mnetined: p. iv; Reproduced, 87, fig. 4
    Rumscheid, Frank, Sabine Schrenk and Kornelia Kressirer. Göttliche Ungerechtigkeit?: Strafen und Glaubensprüfungen als Themen antiker und frühchristlicher Kunst. Petersberg: Dr. M. Imhof, 2018. Reproduced: p. 299; IV.2.3. Abb. 3 Portratbusten
    Bol, Peter, Carola Reinsberg, Renate Bol, D. Kreikenbom, Hans-Ulrich Cain, Heike Richter, and Britta Özen-Kleine. Plastik der römischen Kaiserzeit vom Regierungsantritt des Antoninus Pius bis zum Ende der Antike. Worms : Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft mbh, 2019. Mentioned: p. 190-191, 193, 208; Reproduced: Textabb. 94, p. 190
    Hornik, Heidi J. "Interpreting Select Early Sculptures Using Art-Historical Methodology." In Early Christians and Their Art, edited by Mikeal C. Parsons and Robin M. Jensen, 1-24. Atlanta: SBL Press, 2023. Mentioned: p. 4; Reproduced: p. 5, fig. 1.2
  • Set in Stone: The Face in Medieval Sculpture. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (September 26, 2006-February 19, 2007).
    Metropolitan Museum of Art (9/26/2006 - 2/19/2007): "Set in Stone: The Face in Medieval Sculpture"
    Golden Anniversary of Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 10-October 16, 1966).
  • {{cite web|title=Portrait Bust of an Aristocratic Woman|url=false|author=|year=280–90 CE|access-date=29 April 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1965.244