Workshop of Pasiteles (active Greece, 90 BCE - 50 BCE, Magna Graecia Southern Italy)
Archaistic Torso of a Goddess, about 50 BCE
Pentelic marble, 88 x 39 x 22 cm (34 5/8 x 15 3/8 x 8 11/16 in.)
This white Greek marble sculpture of a clothed female torso, is resting on her right thigh on a pedestal. She is missing her lower legs, arms, neck and head. The torso is covered with a form-clinging dress lying snugly across her chest except for two flat folds running down between her raised pyramid-shaped breasts and falling in rows of narrow folds which meet in the center of her abdomen. The fitted fabric from her shoulders down to her sleeves has flowers with long, narrow petals carved along their elbow length. From the back, the garment is smooth in the center of the top of her back but gathered together in folds from her shoulders falling over her shoulder blades and down her back, terminating at the bottom of her buttocks. Midway down the center of her back the garment flares out giving way to a heavily-shadowed fold.
Courtyard
Commentary
Isabella Stewart Gardner kept meticulous records of many of her acquisitions. In keeping with this legacy, object information is continually being reviewed, updated, and enriched in order to give greater access to the collection.