Blog on Juno Ludovisi

I believe that based off the evidence presented in the article that the Juno Ludovisi outside of Carpenter 25 does not represent a goddess rather a women because of its features. While the statue does have idealized feature like " the straight line from forehead to nose" and the "heavy, rounded line of the jaw two chin" the features do not match any goddess in particular making it hard to place if it is a depiction of a goddess. Along with the facial features later on in the article hair is mentioned, often time hair is a sign of status especially in art. The sculpture to have a hair style aligned with the standard image of goddesses would be good evidence against my argument if everything didn't unravel one you look at the back. The women does not wear " a classical style bun, but a loop of tightly bound braids that hand low down the nape of her neck". This look was common for real women rather than goddesses to wear in portraits during the first century. Although the evidence for the statue to be a depiction of a goddess it not non-existent I believe that there is much more substantial evidence for it to be a depiction of a regular women due to its features and the fact that no one can connect it to a goddess. By looking at all this evidence I have come to the conclusion that the sculpture is not of a goddess but a woman of higher status.