Hello again and welcome back! Today we are going to be looking at one of my favorite statues and learning about a very interesting period of art. The statue we will be looking at today is titled “Marble Statue of an Old Woman” and it is a Roman statue from the Hellenistic period. The Hellenistic period was one of my favorite periods I learned about in my first art history class at Marywood. It is a period that really made a shift in art to start focusing on emotion, expressions, and realism. This is when we were able to start seeing emotion in sculptures rather than just simple posing. There is intentionality and a bit of storytelling that comes about that I really find interesting.

This statue is one of my favorites because of its complexity. I love the movement and angles in the clothing and the woman’s positioning itself that balances with each other. It makes the viewer’s eye constantly move around the piece and really pulls you in. I really like how even though the statue is damaged you can still see the remnants of the emotion on her face which reflects the Hellenistic period in which it was made. I was fortunately able to see this in person and it’s even more wonderful than the pictures. It’s the kind of statue that you can stand and look at for a while and not get bored. You can constantly find new ways to look at it. My friend and I actually looked at this statue for some time because we just didn’t want to look away. It’s truly a great piece to experience.

I hope you enjoyed learning about the “Marble Statue of an Old Woman” and hopefully you’ll get to see her in person one day. See you next time!

~Marissa