Relief Fragments Depicting a Seated Woman and a Griffin
Early 1st century
Medium
Stucco, pigment, and gold
Dimensions
42.6 × 58.8 × 10.2 cm (16 3/4 × 23 1/8 × 4 in.)
Classification
stuccowork
Department
Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
4705
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Inside some Roman houses, baths, and tombs, multiple layers of slow-drying stucco were applied to rough stone walls and divided into panels that were then painted. While the surface was still damp, fresh stucco was applied and modeled into decorative motifs and figures, which were left white to contrast with the painted background. This relief panel and its partner (1922.4429) likely came from the same building. In this panel, a seated woman extends her right arm toward a slender griffin, a myth...
About the Artist
Ancient Roman
The artists attributed to "Ancient Roman" in museum collections represent the anonymous craftsmen who produced the vast output of sculpture, frescoes, mosaics, and reliefs defining Roman visual culture from the Republic (c. 509–27 BCE) to the late Empire (c. 395 CE). Individual identities remain elusive, as Roman makers were typically viewed as skilled tradesmen—often enslaved Greeks or provincial...