The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 2, 2023

Portrait Bust of an Aristocratic Woman

AD 280–90

This object has related works. See Portrait Bust of an Aristocratic Man; Portrait Bust of an Aristocratic Woman; Portrait Bust of an Aristocratic Man; Portrait Bust of an Aristocratic Woman; Portrait Bust of an Aristocratic Man

later Roman, Asia Minor, early Christian period, 3rd century

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.

Provenance
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).
Citations
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
Exhibition history

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).

Set in Stone: The Face in Medieval Sculpture. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (September 26, 2006-February 19, 2007).

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