Hera Farnese
Encyclopedia
Hera
Hera was the wife and one of three sisters of Zeus in the Olympian pantheon of Greek mythology and religion. Her chief function was as the goddess of women and marriage. Her counterpart in the religion of ancient Rome was Juno. The cow and the peacock were sacred to her...
.
Its main example is a 63 cm high Roman marble copy of the 1st century AD of a Greek original of the second half of the 5th century BC, now in the Naples National Archaeological Museum
Naples National Archaeological Museum
The Naples National Archaeological Museum is a museum in Naples, southern Italy, at the northwest corner of the original Greek wall of the city of Neapolis. The museum contains a large collection of Roman artifacts from Pompeii, Stabiae and Herculaneum...
. It was part of a colossal acrolith
Acrolith
An acrolith was a statue made in Classical antiquity, in which the trunk of the figure was made of wood, and the head, hands, and feet were made of marble...
ic statue, and shows the goddess with a central parting and wearing a diadem
Diadem (personal wear)
A diadem is a type of crown, specifically an ornamental headband worn by Eastern monarchs and others as a badge of royalty. The word derives from the Greek "διάδημα" , "band" or "fillet", from "διαδέω" , "I bind round", or "I fasten"....
. It was named Hera by the first archaeologists to see it, due to its severe style and unsmiling expression, and they also interpreted these features as making it a Roman copy of an original by Polycleitus.
As part of the Farnese collection it was brought to Naples in 1844 by German archaeologist Heinrich von Brunn
Antonia Minor
Antonia Minor , also known as Antonia the Younger or simply Antonia was the younger of two daughters of Roman politician Mark Antony and Octavia Minor. Tacitus Ann. 4.44.2 and 12.54.2 may have confused the two Antonia sisters...
) in Palazzo Altemps, Rome.