Flora
Maker
Agostino Testa
(Italian, 1662 - 1735)
Collections
ClassificationsSCULPTURE
Datelate 17th Century
Mediumlimestone
Dimensions80 1/2 × 26 1/2 × 20 in. (204.5 × 67.3 × 50.8 cm.)
base: 20 × 27 × 27 in. (50.8 × 68.6 × 68.6 cm.)
overall: 99 1/2 × 27 × 27 in. (252.7 × 68.6 × 68.6 cm.)
DescriptionThe figure is described in the 1918 sale catalogue from the American Art Association as a "standing figure of the Goddess with wavy hair wreathed with flowers. She is dressed in a loose peplum girdles at the waist and her legs are bare. She holds in her right hand a basket of flowers on which she rests her left hand. Tree trunk support. On rectangular base and original incurved pedestal."
Flora was both the ancient goddess of flowers and/or a courtesan of ancient Roman times who left her money to the Senate to be spent on flowers. Flora was perhaps the most represented of all the ancient Roman gods and goddesses in a garden setting. Here she is represented standing with a basket of flowers in her right hand and flowers in her hair.
Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens
Status
On viewObject number20.42
William Blake
ca. 1801
Object number: 000.23
