Style from Below in the Roman Empire: A Bust of a Matron at the J. Paul Getty Museum

Abstract

The portrait bust of a Roman matron in the J. Paul Getty Museum (79.AA.118) belongs to a type of sculptural portraiture whose features are distinguished from those of the leading imperial women of Rome. Dating to the first half of the second century CE, this group of portraits of Roman matrons, mostly unidentified women of the middle-lower social ranks, displays striking depictions of mature faces and elaborate hairstyles. Close study of the coiffures suggests ways in which the women differentiated themselves from their peers while demonstrating that they belonged to the social group of urban, affluent, and well-appointed matrons. Their portraits neither copied nor entirely disregarded the styling of imperial or elite women; rather, they suggest a process of exchange in which motifs were selected, sampled, and altered through scale, arrangement, or the evocation of more precious adornment.