DIANA THE HUNTRESS

Headless statue representing the goddess Di – Lot 261DIANA THE HUNTRESS. Headless statue depicting the goddess Diana standing, her left leg slightly forward. She wears a short chiton to facilitate her running, covered by a himation draped over her left shoulder and embracing her waist. A baldric is across her torso. White marble. Roman art, 1st-2nd centuries. H_72 cm. Formerly in the C. Milev collection, Germany, 1960s. Diana, the Greek Artemis, is, in Roman mythology, the daughter of Leto and Jupiter. Born on the island of Ortygia, she is the twin sister of Apollo, and was born moments before her brother. Having an aversion to the pains of childbirth, she obtained from her father the grace of perpetual virginity. Jupiter named her queen of the hunt and armed her with a bow and arrows; she had eighty nymphs in her retinue, from whom she demanded inviolable chastity. She is often depicted with a doe and wearing a crescent moon. She was celebrated by choirs of young girls. Bibliography: J. Pollini, Mougins Museum of Classical Art, 2011, p. 76