Harvard Art Museums > 1925.6.28: Wall Painting Fragment with Female Figure Fragments Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"Wall Painting Fragment with Female Figure , 1925.6.28,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Nov 22, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/292372. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Identification and Creation Object Number 1925.6.28 Title Wall Painting Fragment with Female Figure Classification Fragments Work Type wall painting fragment(s) Date 1st century CE Places Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World Period Roman Imperial period Culture Roman Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/292372 Location Location Level 3, Room 3620, University Study Gallery View this object's location on our interactive map Physical Descriptions Medium Pigment on plaster Technique Fresco painting Dimensions H. 7 × W. 8 × H. 1.8 cm (2 3/4 × 3 1/8 × 11/16 in.) Provenance Recorded Ownership History Fausto Benedetti, Rome (by 1925), gift; to the Fogg Museum of Art, 1925. Acquisition and Rights Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Fausto Benedetti Accession Year 1925 Object Number 1925.6.28 Division Asian and Mediterranean Art Contact am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu Permissions The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request. Descriptions Description This fragment depicts the upper torso and head of a nude female figure on a plain red ground. The figure is in 3/4 profile with her torso facing front and her head turned to the right. A purple himation drapes off of her left shoulder and billows behind her back, an indication of her movement through space. Pink and white pigments model her fleshy abdomen, breasts, and face while an earthy ochre constitutes her hair, formed into a low chignon. Commentary This type of small, floating female can be found in other paintings of the first century CE where such small figures are represented as central vignettes on large fields of flat color (e.g., white, red, black, yellow). The floating figures appear to dance or twirl due to their swirling garments. In some instances, such female figures carry an instrument or thyrsus and are accompanied by satyrs suggesting their association with Dionysus and identification as maenads (1). Other examples carry specific attributes that identify them as Seasons or other mythological figures (2). Notes: 1. For example, a series of maenads in a panel from the Villa of Cicero, Pompeii in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, inv. 9297: F.L. Bastet and M. De Vos, Proposta per una classificazione del terzo stile pompeiano, (Roma) 1979, no. 70. 2. Compare to the figures from the Villa di Arianna at Stabiae, cubiculum W26, specifically the figure of Leda who wears a similar purple garment, Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, inv. 9243. See also Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli inv. 8940. Exhibition History Roman Gallery Installation (long-term), Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 09/16/1999 - 01/20/2008 32Q: 3620 University Study Gallery, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 01/20/2018 - 05/06/2018; Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 01/20/2024 - 05/05/2024; Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 08/31/2024 - 01/05/2025 Subjects and Contexts Roman Domestic Art Verification Level This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
