A small bronze statuette of Isis-Fortuna, a syncretic type fusing the Egyptian goddess Isis with the Roman Fortuna, common across the Roman Empire from the late first century BC onward. The figure wears Hellenistic dress and a headdress combining cow horns, sun disk and ears of corn, her long dress knotted at the chest in the so-called Isis knot. She carries a cornucopia, the horn of plenty, in her left arm, borrowed from Fortuna's own iconography and symbolising abundance, and a ship's rudder in her right hand, referencing Isis Pelagia, her role as protector of sailors and navigation, and Fortuna's own control over the course of human lives. The cornucopia's weight required an extra supporting pillar below the elbow. It was acquired by Henry Walters in Baltimore in 1912, by purchase from the Lambros-Dattari sale at the Hotel Drouot, Paris.
Facts
Custody
Current LocationThe Walters Art Museum, Baltimore (accession 54.943, not currently on view) 1 Current Custodian Custody HistoryAcquired by Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1912, by purchase from the Lambros-Dattari sale, Hotel Drouot, Paris. 1 Origins
Date of Creation CountryRoman Empire (Egyptian-Roman syncretic type) 1 Subject Matter
Depicted SubjectIsis syncretised with the Roman goddess Fortuna, identified by her Isis knot, cornucopia and ship's rudder. 2 Physical Form
DimensionsH: 10.6 cm (4 3/16 in.) 1 Rights and Reproduction
Reproduction and CopyrightThis statuette is centuries past any copyright term, but a specific modern photograph of it carries its own separate copyright. This atlas describes and cites the work rather than reproducing an image of it. 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
This source names Fortuna directly: "A small bronze statuette of Isis-Fortuna, a syncretic type fusing the Egyptian goddess Isis with the Roman Fortuna, common across the Roman Empire from the late first century BC onward."
Isis, Figures This source names Isis directly: "A small bronze statuette of Isis-Fortuna, a syncretic type fusing the Egyptian goddess Isis with the Roman Fortuna, common across the Roman Empire from the late first century BC onward."
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