With that astonishing frank expression and unrelentingly frontal gaze, framed by those shocks of hair, there’s a lot to love about this Latin beauty. She likely hails from Lavinium (some 20 miles from Rome) and the 4th century B.C.
Preserved to 74.8 cm, she would have been very nearly life-sized and is thought to have stood in a sanctuary, perhaps shown bearing votive offerings.
But all that is eclipsed by her extraordinary parure – of especial interest is the row of intaglios perhaps overcasts in terracotta of actual hard stone versions. I hope some jewelry experts and Etruscan enthusiasts might weigh in!
