Colossal Roman Marble Seated Woman

This work represents a woman of colossal size: with the head, its dimensions must have approached two meters in height. It is an impressive sculpture, not only because of its size, but also because of the strength and respect it inspires and the excellent quality of the workmanship.

The woman is seated on a throne of which we see the plinth, the side walls and the rectangular armrests, which are adorned with a domed disc at their ends; the back of the chair is not represented. Below the left armrest, a thick bulge indicates the presence of a cushion, on which the woman is seated.

The sculpture rests on a square base, worked in the same block of marble as the seat and the figure; woman’s feet touch the ground. The strict frontality, which characterizes the statue, suggests that the position of the head was straight, with the gaze directed forward. As evidenced by the remains of the tenons where the hands rested, the right arm was placed on the armrest, while the left descended on the thigh.

The woman wore a long tunic fastened over the shoulders and reaching down to the feet; the arms are bare. Just below the chest, a cord – with a perfectly realistically rendered knot and ends – holds the loose fabric.

A thick coat (pallium) covered the head and shoulders. On the left it descends behind the arm, while on the right it passes behind the elbow, over the legs, before falling next to the armrest forming a cascade of zigzag folds.

The difference in treatment indicates that the fabrics are not woven with the same fiber: the surface of the coat, which was made of wool, is smooth, with few rounded and thick folds. The folds of the tunic, on the other hand, convey the texture and lightness of a linen fabric. On the torso, their outline is rich and varied, but it follows a precise projection, cut in two by the horizontal axis of the cord: on the chest the folds are in “V” shape and then rounded, while on the belly – which is slightly domed – they are vertical but with the ends turned towards the pubis (we should also emphasize the presence of some crescent moon folds, which this fabric forms near the armpits of the woman).

Despite the similarity in texture, the treatment of the tunic just above the feet is very different: the furrows, dug with a drill, are straight and symmetrical; the edge of this garment is zigzag. The woman is wearing soft leather ankle boots with a rigid sole.

Seated statues are a constant feature of ancient sculpture, first in Greece (cf. for example the seated figures of the Archaic period) and then in Rome (cf. copies of Greek works, figures on stone sarcophagi, etc.).

There are a number of Roman statues depicting seated women; these are most often deities or personifications, such as Fortuna or Pudicitia; from the 1st century A.D., there are also large statues of female citizens, sometimes represented with the body of a deity, but whose face corresponds to the portrait of a matron.

The quality of the work, the majesty of the figure and its unusual size could indicate that we are in the presence of a much more important figure than a simple matron: it is possible that it was a woman belonging to the high nobility of Roman times, even to the imperial court; seated next to her were presumably other members of her family and in the first place her husband.

Stylistically, we find in this work elements of Roman art as well as elements announcing the beginnings of Byzantine art: in particular the interplay of chiaroscuro of the folds, which are deeply hollowed out, their organization on the torso and above all else the accentuation of the frontality are among the essential characteristics of the works of the 4th and 5th centuries A.D.

The state of conservation is very good. The head and arms, which were clearly worked apart are now lost; apart from a fragment towards the top of the back and chips on the fabrics, the throne, and the feet, the statue is complete. Traces of light red paint, preserved on the fabric, make think that at least the tunic was of this color; the belt may have been brown. The posterior part is cut vertically and the surface there has only been roughened: two holes are visible approximately at the height of the shoulder blades. Another hole was drilled near the right armrest; on this side, the wall of the seat is flat and only pecked.

Formerly, S. A. collection, acquired in the early 1990’s; thence by descent.

Notarized in Switzerland before the June 2005 LTBC (Loi sur le Transfert des Biens Culturels)

On seated female Roman statues: KOCH L., Weibliche Sitzstatuen der Klassik und Hellenismus und ihre kaiserzeitliche Rezeption, 1989 (see e.g. nos. 58, 108, 124, 125, 142). Other statues of matronae or seated deities: DIEBNER S., Rivista di archeolgia 6, 1982, p. 56, n.1, pl. 1-2 (deity?). DUBY G.- DAVAL J.-C. (edd.), Sculpture, From Antiquity to the Middle Ages: from the 8th BC. AD to the 15th century, 1989, p. 164 (lady with her daughter, late 1st c. AD). E. VERMEULE, Greek and Roman Sculpture in America, 1981, p. 294, fig. 250 (woman represented as Ceres, 1st century AD). The statuette of the “Seated adolescent Christ”: GIULIANO A. (ed.), Museo Nazionale Romano, Le sculture, I, 1, 1979, p. 325, no. 192.