Relief Showing Ajax and Cassandra (1 Century A.D.)
The male figure is naked except for a short cloak, which, because of his movement, billows out behind him. The girl is depicted at the moment when she clutches the image of Athena; with her left arm she embraces the statue, resisting Ajax’s violent attack, while, with her right arm, she pushes his arm away, sinking her nails into his flesh. One of […]
Portrait of a Women (92 A.D.)
Displayed in 1 the niche next to the previous work, this is a portrait of a-woman: the modelling and pose — the head is turning slightly to’ the right — are typical of the classicizing.style, which is ‘Stressed by the technique used to render the details of the face: The woman’s hair is parted in the middle, with deep waves over the forehead, while, on the crown, it is braided in a plait. This is a variant of the elaborate official hairstyle […]
Portrait of Britannicus (50 A.D.)
This portrait of a young man with a fleshy face is displayed in an oval niche. His eyes have thick. clearly incised lids; he has full lips and a promnent chin. His hair forms a compact mass of curls, which, departing from the back of his head, frame his forehead with a long fringe. This is Britannicus, son of Emperor Claudius and Messali- na. This unfortunate young man, a […]
Leda Seated with the Swan (30-37 A.D.)
The head, placed on a slender neck, is that of a mature woman with an oval face and a small mouth with full lips. Her hair, parted in the centre, is rendered with gentle waves and held in place with a thin hairband; locks falling from her temples form curls in front of her ears. At the rear, the locks are gathered on the nape in a knot fastened by a ring. Behind her ears, two long locks, added during the […]
Sarcophagus Showing Apollo and the Muses (220-230 A.D.)
Coming from the Giardino del Lago, the two slabs were restored by Antonio D’Este early in 1827. They were re- moved from the east facade of the villa when various antiquities were taken to France during the Napoleonic occupation; they remained in the Villa because the transport of the heavy blocks did not appear to be either opportune or urgent since the Sarcophagus showing […]
Cloaked Boys (2 Century A.D.)
Three figures of boys wearing the cloak and hood known as the caracalla are placed in the corners of the room. They are genii linked to wealth, health (like the small Telesphorus in the group with Asclepius in room VI, no. 13b) or death; the gnomes of the medieval sagas are derived from them. Two of them come from _ the Giardino del Lago, in the centre of the park of the Villa Borghese, which is still dominated by the Neoclassical temple of […]
Venus Genetrix (1 Century A.D.)
The woman is portrayed.as she is about. to_undress, foreshadowing the nudity revealed by Praxiteles. Resting on her left leg, with her right foot placed behind and just touching the ground with the toes, she twists her body with a rapid motion, lifting the edge of her cloak from her shoulder. The transparent chiton allows the shape of her body to be discerned and, slipping down her left […]
Sarcophagus Showing Sacrifice of Minos to Poseidon (160-180 A.D.)
Fragment of side of sarcophagus showing the sacrifice of Minos to Poseidon Italian marble 78 x 80 cm Inv. no. LXI Part of the original Borghese Collection, this relief forms the right side of the only surviving sarcophagus depicting the myth of Daedalus and Pasiphaé — represented on the front — now in Paris to gether with the left side showing three of the legitimate children of Minos, king of Crete, and his wife Pasiphaé. The relief recounts Minos’s […]
Statue of Nymph Restored as Muse (1 Century A.D.)
The figure is resting on its left leg, while the bent right leg is placed slightly behind to one side. The outstretched left hand formerly held an ~ attribute (substituted_in the restoration by a globe); the right arm hangs down the figure’s side. The thin sleeveless chiton has slipped off the left shoulder, leaving a breast bare. It is secured round the […]
Head of Goddess Restored as Isis (140 A.D.)
The bust stands on a pedestal bearing a relief on the front depicting two bulls facing each other and flanking a basket of fruit on two scroll ornaments. The figure is wearing a short cloak fastened on her right shoulder with a fibula, leaving her right breast bare. Her head is slightly turned to the right. Her long oval face has thick eyelids with notably arched eyebrows and a small mouth with full lips; it is framed by the hair, […]
