Rea Silvia. End of the 1st BC. Century

Relief of extraordinary quality, cut from Luni marble, which represents a female figure with a naked torso sitting on a rock. The head, both arms, which would have been raised upwards, and the left foot are completely missing. The cloak which covers the back is blown open by the wind, creating a succession of folds both sides of the breasts, and is retained by a belt around the waist.

The theme which is represented here centres on the episode of the encounter between the vestal Rea Silvia, daughter of Eneas and the God Mars, fruit of which would lead to the births of Romulo and Remo. The iconography which describes the aforementioned episode (Ovidio, Fasti, III, 11-45) was developed in the Augustan Age and reproduced in temples and other prestigious monuments, in line with the policy of revival of the old myths about the founding of Rome.