Juno Ludovisi

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This head, known in the past as Juno or Hera, was once part of a colossal statue that stood three times normal size. The female portrait head, crowned with a diadem, a symbol of royalty and sanctity like the Hera of Ephesus, was reproduced in 16th century paintings and later became one of the most beautiful sculptures in the Ludovisi Collection. The German literary tradition of Goethe and Schiller admired Juno as the symbolic image of German neoclassicism. Most critical studies have identified this head as the young and idealized portrait of Antonia Minor, the emperor Claudius's mother, deified after her death in 37 AD. The most relevant iconographic comparison is the portrayal of Antonia on the Ara Pacis. Other theorists identify the sculpture as Livia, wife of Emperor Augustus.