A 13-foot tall, 13,000 pound marble statue of the ancient Roman goddess Juno has arrived at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and will be on view early next month.
The largest classical statue in the U.S., it has been dated to the Roman Imperial Period (27 BC to 565 AD) and probably stood before a civic building or temple in ancient Rome.
Starting April 9, Juno will be on public view in the George D. and Margo Behrakis Wing for Art of the Ancient World. At the unveiling, a public appeal will be launched for the conservation of this colossal statue, which is expected to take six months, and of other works of art.
Regarded as protector of the state, Juno has complex relations with other divinities. The daughter of Saturn and sister and wife of the chief God Jupiter, she is mother of Mars and Vulcan and is often shown in warlike attire.
Though the origins of this statue are unknown, it was included in an important 17th century collection in Rome. In 1897 Bostonians Charles Franklin and Mary Pratt Sprague purchased it, bringing it seven years later to their farm in Brookline. The MFA acquired Juno in 2011 through the generosity of an anonymous donor and the William Francis Warden Fund.
"You would have to travel to Rome to see such a monumental and impressive marble sculpture,'' said Christine Kondoleon, senior curator of Greek and Roman art. "As in ancient Rome, MFA visitors will be awestruck by the physical presence of the gods and the power of the empire.''
A 13-foot tall, 13,000 pound marble statue of the ancient Roman goddess Juno has arrived at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and will be on view early next month.
The largest classical statue in the U.S., it has been dated to the Roman Imperial Period (27 BC to 565 AD) and probably stood before a civic building or temple in ancient Rome.
Starting April 9, Juno will be on public view in the George D. and Margo Behrakis Wing for Art of the Ancient World. At the unveiling, a public appeal will be launched for the conservation of this colossal statue, which is expected to take six months, and of other works of art.
Regarded as protector of the state, Juno has complex relations with other divinities. The daughter of Saturn and sister and wife of the chief God Jupiter, she is mother of Mars and Vulcan and is often shown in warlike attire.
Though the origins of this statue are unknown, it was included in an important 17th century collection in Rome. In 1897 Bostonians Charles Franklin and Mary Pratt Sprague purchased it, bringing it seven years later to their farm in Brookline. The MFA acquired Juno in 2011 through the generosity of an anonymous donor and the William Francis Warden Fund.
"You would have to travel to Rome to see such a monumental and impressive marble sculpture,'' said Christine Kondoleon, senior curator of Greek and Roman art. "As in ancient Rome, MFA visitors will be awestruck by the physical presence of the gods and the power of the empire.''
