Description
This portrait shows how hairstyles were used to communicate personal virtues. This girl’s forehead roll (nodus) and bun, linked by a thin braid, imitate the famous style worn by Rome’s first empress, Livia. The style says that this girl will become an ideal wife and mother, like Livia herself. This popular style’s careful control of the hair was a purposeful part of its message of morality and restraint. Fashion would change in favor of taller and fuller styles, as coins and sculptures of later Roman women in the exhibition reflect.
Details
- Work Date:
- 1st quarter of 1st century CE
- Medium:
- Marble
- Credit Line:
- Yale University Art Gallery (1995.80.1) Maitland F. Griggs, B.A. 1896, Fund