Psyche revived by the kiss of Love
Antonio Canova, marble, 1793
Antonio Canova: Psyche revived by the kiss of Love (1793)
Bust of Agrippina the Elder
Marble bust of Agrippina the Elder, 17 B.C.–33 A.D.
Hall of the Emperors, Palazzo Nuovo, Musei Capitolini, Rome
Sébastien Slodtz: Hannibal Barca (1704)
This over-life-size marble statue of Hannibal Barca counting the rings of the Roman knights killed at the Battle of Cannae was made by Sébastien Slodtz for Versailles in 1704, but it is now at the Louvre.
Gian Lorenzo Bernini: Bust of Camilla Barbadori (1619)
CAMILLA BARBADORI was already ten years dead when Bernini made this portrait bust, possibly commissioned by her son Carlo Barberini, who as the elder became head of the Barberini family when his father died. The other son, Maffeo, would some years later become Pope Urban VIII and is nowadays mostly known for his controversy with Galilei.
The bust is now located at the Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen.
John Gibson: Aurora (1842)
John Gibson, born near Conwy in Wales, was already twenty-seven when he travelled to Rome. He would stay there all his life. In 1842 Henry Sandbach, a Liverpool merchant, commissioned this figure of Aurora for his wife Margaret, who had become a close friend of the sculptor. The Sandbach family later built a gallery in their new house, Hafodunos, to display their Gibson sculpture.
A bust of this statue is in the Yale Center for British Art.
Votive group of Aphrodite, Pan and Eros
According to the inscription on the base, this group of Aphrodite, Pan and Eros was dedicated by Dionysios of Berytos to his ancestral gods. It was found on Delos and is dated to about 100 B.C. (source).
Alvise Tagliapietra: Justice
This over-life-size statue of Justice by Alvise Tagliapietra (1670–1747) decorates the Jordan Staircase of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg.
Zenobia of Palmyra
IULIA AUREIA ZENOBIA, who claimed Cleopatra and Dido of Carthage as ancestors, became queen of Palmyra when her husband Septimius Odaenathus and his son were assassinated in 267. Zenobia’s son Vaballanthus was heir, but just an infant, so she ruled instead. In 269, Zenobia conquered Egypt and became known as the “Warrior Queen.” She conquered part of Asia Minor, as well. In 274 she was defeated by Aurelian near Antioch and rode in his triumphal parade, but was allowed to live the rest of her life in luxury in Rome. She is not to be confused with Zenobia, the wife of Rhadamistus, who lived more than two hundred years earlier in a different region.
Contemporary portrait bust in the Vatican Museum
Ivan Vitali: Venus (1852)
A sandal-binder Venus by Ivan Vitali, 1852, now located in the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg.
Vivat! Crescat! Floreat! 