During the Hellenistic period, artists became concerned with the accurate representation of childhood, old age, and even physical deformity. The range of subject matter was extended to include genre-like figures from the fringes of society. Fine, large-scale statues of fishermen, peasants, and aged courtesans became valued religious dedications, sometimes placed in a park-like setting within the sanctuary of the god. Although this statue is known familiarly as The Old Market Woman, it probably represents an aged courtesan on her way to a festival of Dionysos, the god of wine. Her delicate sandals and the ample material in her thin, elaborately draped chiton are a far cry from the rough garb of a peasant woman. The ivy wreath on her head marks her association with Dionysos, and the basket of fruit and the two chickens must be dedicatory gifts to the god or simply her own provisions for a long day of celebration. Veneration of Dionysos was widespread during the Hellenistic period, and ancient literary descriptions give an idea of the extraordinary processions and festivals held in his honor. The flattened composition of the figure is typical of sculpture created in the late second century B.C. The original work may have been dedicated in a sanctuary of Dionysos. The Roman copy could have decorated a garden.
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Visible-induced infrared luminescent image stacked on visible-light image, showing Egyptian blue on drapery and in the space near the basket
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Ultraviolet-induced visible luminescence image, showing madder lake pigment (pink)
Artwork Details
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Title:Marble statue of an old woman
Period:Early Imperial, Julio-Claudian
Date:14–68 CE
Culture:Roman
Medium:Marble, Pentelic
Dimensions:H. 49 5/8 in. (125.98 cm)
Classification:Stone Sculpture
Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1909
Object Number:09.39
September 1907, found in Rome, on land belonging to the Congregazione degli Operai della Divina Pietà (Robinson 1909, p. 206).
1907, found on property belonging to the Congregazione degli Opera della Divina Pietà, Rome; after 1907, purchased by A. and A. Jandolo from the Congregazione; [until March 1909, with A. and A. Jandolo, Rome]; acquired in March 1909, purchased from A. and A. Jandolo, Rome.
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Robinson, Edward. 1909. "The Old Market Woman." Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 4(11): pp. 201, 204–6.
Reinach, Salomon. 1916. "Quatre mille statues antiques." Répertoire de la Statuaire Greque et Romaine, Vol. 4. no. 7, p. 349, Paris: E. Leroux.
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1917. Handbook of the Classical Collection. p. 235, fig. 144, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1927. Handbook of the Classical Collection. pp. 276–77, fig. 196, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
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Richter, Gisela M. A. 1970. "The Department of Greek and Roman Art: Triumphs and Tribulations." Metropolitan Museum Journal, 3: pp. 75, 78, fig. 8.
Vermeule, Cornelius Clarkson. 1980. Greek Art: Socrates to Sulla, from the Peloponnesian Wars to the Rise of Julius Ceasar. no. 121, p. 91, Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
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Wrede, Henning. 1991. "Matronen im Kult des Dionysos: Zur hellenistischen 'Genreplastik'." Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Römische Abteilung, 98: pp. 174 n. 72, 176–7, pl. 43, 1, 2.
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Howard Kathleen. 1994. Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide: Works of Art Selected by Philippe De Montebello. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
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Abramitis, Dorothy H. 1997. "Statue of an Old Woman: A Case Study in the Effects of Restorations on the Visual Aspect of Sculpture." Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 55(3): pp. 30–31, 33–37, figs. 1–3, 5–7.
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Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2020. ART = Discovering Infinite Connections in Art History. pp. 048, 272, New York: Phaidon Press.
Skovmøller, Amalie. 2020. Facing the colours of Roman portraiture: Exploring the materiality of ancient polychrome forms. pp. 158, 160, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter & Co.
Hemingway, Seán. 2021. How to Read Greek Sculpture. no. 37, pp. 42, 45, 154–57, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
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The Museum's collection of Greek and Roman art comprises more than 30,000 works ranging in date from the Neolithic period to the time of the Roman emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity in A.D. 312.
