id: 108312
accession number: 1925.943
share license status: CC0
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1925.943
updated: 2023-03-04 09:29:35.714000
Portrait Bust of the Empress Claudia Octavia, AD 50–70. Italy, Roman, 1st Century. Marble; overall: 38.2 cm (15 1/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1925.943
title: Portrait Bust of the Empress Claudia Octavia
title in original language:
series:
series in original language:
creation date: AD 50–70
creation date earliest: 1
creation date latest: 99
current location: 103 Roman
creditline: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
copyright:
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culture: Italy, Roman, 1st Century
technique: marble
department: Greek and Roman Art
collection: GR - Roman
type: Sculpture
find spot:
catalogue raisonne:
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CREATORS
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measurements: Overall: 38.2 cm (15 1/16 in.)
state of the work:
edition of the work:
support materials:
inscriptions:
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
title: The Silver Jubilee Exhibition
opening date: 1941-06-23T04:00:00
The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941).
title: Roman Portrait Sculpture
opening date: 1961-04-06T05:00:00
Roman Portrait Sculpture. Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA (organizer) (April 6-May 15, 1961).
title: I Claudia, Women in Ancient Rome
opening date: 1996-09-06T00:00:00
I Claudia, Women in Ancient Rome. Yale University Art Gallery (organizer) (September 6-December 1, 1996); San Antonio Museum of Art (December 20, 1996-March 2, 1997); North Carolina Museum of Art (April 6-June 15, 1997).
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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
* Roman Portraits, The Worcester Art Museum, MA (April 6-May 15, 1961).
* Art of the Seaway Nations, Community Room of the East Ohio Gas Company, Cleveland, OH (Week of April 20, 1959).
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PROVENANCE
Bruno Tartaglia, Rome, Italy, through Harold Parsons, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
date: ?-1925
footnotes:
citations:
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
date: 1925-
footnotes:
citations:
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fun fact:
The complex coiffure includes four elements: parted waves (top), tight curls (sides), hanging ringlets (shoulders, back), and a braided knot (back).
digital description:
This portrait bust depicts a young woman whose idealized features and elaborate hairstyle may identify her as the empress Claudia Octavia (r. AD 54-62), unfortunate first wife of the notorious emperor Nero. Over her tunic she wears a stola, a long garment hanging from both shoulders and distinguishing her as a married, upper-class woman. Although beloved by the Roman citizenry and described by the historian Tacitus as “aristocratic and virtuous,” Octavia was eventually divorced and banished by Nero, then ordered put to death.
wall description:
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RELATED WORKS
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CITATIONS
Howard, Rossiter. "Two Roman Portraits." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 13, no. 1 (1926): 8-13.
page number:
url:
Howard, Rossiter. "Two Roman Portraits." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 13, no. 1 (1926): 8-13.
page number:
url: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25136890.
Howard, Rossiter. "Two Roman Portraits." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 13, no. 1 (1926): 8-13.
page number:
url:
Howard, Rossiter. "Roman Portrait Head." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 15, no. 7 (1928): 147-53.
page number: Mentioned p. 148.
url: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25137138.
R. H. "Roman Portrait Head." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 15, no. 7 (1928): 147-53.
page number: Mentioned, p. 148.
url: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25137138
Howard, Rossiter. "Roman Portrait Head." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 15, no. 7 (1928): 147-53.
page number: Mentioned, p. 148.
url:
Bieber, Margarete. “Roman Sculpture in the Cleveland Museum.” Art in America 32 (April 1944): 65–83.
page number: Ill. fig. 7 (p. 72), discussed p. 74.
url:
Bieber, Margarete. “Roman Sculpture in the Cleveland Museum.” Art in America 32 (April 1944): 65–83.
page number: Ill. fig. 7 (p. 72), discussed p. 74.
url:
Bieber, Margarete. “Roman Sculpture in the Cleveland Museum.” Art in America 32 (April 1944): 65–83.Ill. fig. 7 (p. 72), discussed p. 74.
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Cleveland Museum of Art. Art of the Seaway Nations. [Cleveland]: [East Ohio Gas Co.], 1959.
page number:
url:
Worcester Art Museum, and Michael Milkovich. Roman Portraits: [a Loan Exhibition of Roman Sculpture and Coins from the First Century B.C. Through the Fourth Century A.D., by Michael Milkovich, April 6-May 14, 1961]. [Worchester, Mass.]: [Worchester Art Museum], 1961.
page number: no. 11, pp/ 30
url:
Kleiner, Diana E. E., and Susan B. Matheson. I, Claudia: Women in Ancient Rome. New Haven, Conn: Yale University Art Gallery, 1996.
page number: Reproduced: p. 168. #123; Mention: pp. 168-169
url:
Kleiner, Diana E. E., and Susan B. Matheson. I, Claudia: Women in Ancient Rome. New Haven, Conn: Yale University Art Gallery, 1996. Reproduced: p. 168. #123; Mention: pp. 168-169.
page number:
url:
Kleiner, Diana E. E., and Susan B. Matheson. I, Claudia: Women in Ancient Rome. New Haven, Conn: Yale University Art Gallery, 1996. Reproduced: p. 168. #123; Mention: pp. 168-169
page number:
url:
Vermeule, Cornelius C. Art and Archaeology of Antiquity. London: Pindar Press, 2001.
page number: pp. 30-31
url:
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IMAGES
web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1925.943/1925.943_web.jpg
print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1925.943/1925.943_print.jpg
full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1925.943/1925.943_full.tif