A ROMAN BRONZE VICTORIA

CIRCA 2ND CENTURY A.D.

Details

A ROMAN BRONZE VICTORIA
CIRCA 2ND CENTURY A.D.
The goddess standing with her weight on her right leg, her left relaxed and bent at the knee with the foot splayed, her voluptuous body nude but for a heavy mantle draped over her left shoulder, across her back, and over her right hip, enveloping her leg in thick U-shaped folds, with zigzag descending at the front, her feathery wings upraised, her head turned to her left, with fine features, her eyes articulated, her wavy center-parted hair with three top-knots and long spiral curls falling onto each shoulder, incised tendrils falling over her clavicles, holding a sheathed sword in her right hand, her left extending outward, once resting on the rim of a now-missing shield, originally supported by the palm tree below, a quiver suspended along the trunk, a pelta shield above an overturned helmet to her right, the shield ornamented with acanthus and incised spiral tendrils, the rectangular plinth with projecting moldings, a tall shaft in back preserving an iron core, suggesting the ensemble once served as a tripod or table leg
13 ¼ in. (33.6 cm.) high

Provenance

with Boris Mussienko, Upper Marlboro, Maryland.
William Froelich, New York, acquired from the above, 1991.

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Lot Essay

Depictions of Nike (Victoria to the Romans) in which the goddess is only partially clothed begin in the 4th century B.C. Several Hellenistic marbles are known depicting her standing on a trophy (see nos. 618-619 in A. Goulaki-Voutira and U. Grote, "Nike," in LIMC, vol. VI). The type continued to be popular into the Roman Imperial period, as evinced by the present example.

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