Portrait Bust of a Priestess

Although the identity of the sitter is no longer known, the high-quality marble and expert carving of this portrait bust indicate the woman’s position in elite Roman society. She wears a tunica (light undergarment) under a palla (mantle) wrapped high around her neck and shoulders, and an elaborate coiffure resembling styles made fashionable by female relatives of the emperor Trajan: her hair is arranged in a pile of curls at the front and tight braids that swirl into a bun at the back. The hair is crowned by a thick, rolled fillet (strophion) with ribbons tied in a Hercules knot at the nape of the neck that fall onto her shoulders. This characterizes the woman as a priestess and may suggest an association with the cult of Demeter and Persephone at Eleusis in Greece. The acanthus leaves at the base of the bust also symbolize regeneration and suggest that the sculpture may have been commissioned as a funerary portrait. The back of the bust is roughly finished, indicating that was originally placed in a niche.