Nueva estatua icónica femenina en piedra local de Tarraco

Abstract

This article details an iconographic and stylistic analysis of a female statue from Tarragona (Spain), former Tarraco, capital of Hispania citerior. The statue is sculpted in stone extracted from quarries around the city, which fact allows us to resume the study of local workshops. Its dating to the second half of the 1st century BC links it to a particular group of portraits, of which many pieces are preserved in Tarragona. This set affirms the existence of local workshops, working according to the models of the metropolis, which introduced distinctly Roman iconography into the city. At the same time, Tarraco’s achievement of the rank of a Roman colonia, around 45 BC, permits an association with these sculptures to the likely establishment of colonists in the city. The exact provenance of this statue is unknown, although, like other similar sculptures, it must have adorned the grave of a prominent woman of the local elite.