"Penelope"

According to Greek myth, Penelope was the personification of fidelity and patience, having waited over twenty years for the return of her husband Odysseus from the Trojan Wars. However, this so-called Penelope, now headless and unrestored, is more probably a funerary monument. It is thought to be Athenian work possibly plundered by the Persians during the sack of Athens in 480 and 479 BCE

Number

558

Material

Marble

Location of Original

Tehran Museum

Size

0.80m

Accession

Purchased from the Akademische Kunstmuseum, der Universität Bonn, in 1965

References

Richter: Ancient Italy, 48

Date

mid C5 BCE

Provenance

Found in Persepolis in Iran

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