Peplophoros
Maker
Fonderia Chiurazzi
(Italian, founded 1870)
Dateearly 20th century
MediumBronze
Dimensions69 x 24 x 15 in. (175.3 x 61 x 38.1 cm)
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LineBequest of John Ringling, 1936
Object numberSN5090
This statue of a woman wearing a Doric peplos, with her right arm raised above her head, was one of five such female figures that once adorned the so-called Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum. Incorrectly identified in the 18th century as “dancers,” they were subsequently interpreted as <i>hydrophoroi</i> (water carriers) or as Danaids, the fifty daughters of the Egyptian King Danaus condemned to eternally carry water as punishment for having killed their husbands. Today they are considered simply as <i>peplophoroi</i>, female figures clad in the peplos.
On View
On viewLocation
- Museum of Art, Courtyard
