Female Portrait Statuary in Roman-period Athens: the epigraphic and sculptural evidence

Abstract

Female portrait statuary forms a large and important category of evidence for understanding the historical phenomenon of the visual representation and commemoration of women in the public spaces of the Greek city. With its rich body of both epigraphical and sculptural remains, the city of Athens is a particularly fruitful site to undertake such a study. While portraits of women begin to be set up in Athens in the early fourth century B.C., the chronological focus here is the Roman Imperial period, when inscribed bases for statues of women and marble sculpture representing female portrait subjects are the most abundant. I consider epigraphical evidence in the form of inscribed statue bases. The main sculptural evidence comes from the American excavations in the Athenian Agora. While a great deal of important research has focused on the epigraphic evidence, particularly from the Acropolis, this article analyzes and puts into conversation both strands of this extensive corpus of material.