Bronze portrait bust of a Roman matron

Bronze portrait bust of a Roman matron

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This bust of a private individual has often been taken to represent one of the emperor Augustus’s descendants, notably his granddaughter Agrippina the Elder, whose hairstyle is closely imitated here. It provides a good illustration of the way in which official images of the emperor and his family influenced Roman private portraits. The bust may have been a dedication, possibly set up in a shrine within the family house.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Bronze portrait bust of a Roman matronBronze portrait bust of a Roman matronBronze portrait bust of a Roman matronBronze portrait bust of a Roman matronBronze portrait bust of a Roman matron

The Museum's collection of Greek and Roman art comprises more than thirty thousand works ranging in date from the Neolithic period (ca. 4500 B.C.) to the time of the Roman emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity in A.D. 312. It includes the art of many cultures and is among the most comprehensive in North America. The geographic regions represented are Greece and Italy, but not as delimited by modern political frontiers: Greek colonies were established around the Mediterranean basin and on the shores of the Black Sea, and Cyprus became increasingly Hellenized. For Roman art, the geographical limits coincide with the expansion of the Roman Empire. The department also exhibits the art of prehistoric Greece (Helladic, Cycladic, and Minoan) and pre-Roman art of Italic peoples, notably the Etruscans.