Both the Grave Naiskos of Apollonia and the Portrait of Antonia Minor appear to be sculptures that were done after the death of the female subjects they depict. The Grave Naiskos of Apollonia as stated by the Getty Museum website is an Athenian grave monument dating from around 100 B.C., while the Portrait of Antonia Minor is a cameo believed to have been carved after the death of Antonia Minor, mother of the fourth Roman emperor, Claudius, in A.D. 37. Both of these art works functions as forms of commemoration.
Both of these sculptures also use symbols as a kind of shorthand for communicating important ideas about the subjects. Apollonia is holding a pomegranate in her left hand and stroking a dove with her right hand. The pomegranate is a well-known symbol from Greek mythology as it is given to Persephone by the god of the underworld, Hades, as she leaves the underworld as a way of ensuring she will have to return to him. For this reason the pomegranate is associated with death, but it is also associated with “the promise of resurrection, when held in the hand of the goddess Hera or Persephone” (Graves 10) so it is not surprising that it often features on grave monuments. The dove is also a symbol of love and in particular of the Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite, but birds in Greek mythology were also seen as bearing messages from gods to men (Bonnefoy 131) and perhaps this dove signals Apollonia’s death.
Antonia Minor is depicted wearing a veil and diadem. The diadem which is a jewelled crown or headband is a symbol of sovereignty, but Antonia is identified as a priestess of the cult that turned the Roman emperors beginning with the first emperor, Augustus, into gods. This association is emphasized by the portrait of Augustus wearing a laurel wreath on the diadem itself; the laurel wreath was traditionally a symbol of victory or distinction in battle (Sebesta and Bonfante 82) emphasizing Augustus’ status so everything about this cameo links Antonia to her uncle, Augustus.
Both of these sculptures use symbolism that connects them with deities, but the reasons for this are different. The Grave Naiskos of Apollonia is essentially a gravestone which would have been commissioned by grieving parents for their young daughter. It demonstrates, above all, love through the dove and Aphrodite and death through the pomegranate and Hades. The Portrait of Antonia Minor, however is about power and serves as a demonstration and reminder of who holds it and why. If the cameo was carved during the reign of Antonia’s son, Claudius, it is one more sign proving his connection to Augustus – the first Roman emperor – and therefore Claudius’ right to rule as fourth emperor. This is also emphasized by the chalcedony used for the cameo which is a form of gemstone while the Grave Naiskos of Apollonia is made of marble. This is also reflected in their relative sizes with the Portrait of Antonia Minor being smaller, something like a precious stone, than the
I prefer the Grave Naiskos of Apollonia to the Portrait of Antonia Minor because it is much easier to identify with. It is easy to imagine the grief of parents losing a child because whether it was Ancient Greece or the twenty-first century, the pain would be the same. There is something very touching about the depiction of Apollonia and the love that her parents had for her is obvious. It is more difficult for me to identify with a cult of emperors and their desire to hold onto power because that is what the Portrait of Antonia Minor seems to represent to me: Power but not a lot of love.
Works Cited
Bonnefoy, Yves. Greek and Egyptian Mythologies. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992. Print
Graves, Robert. The Greek Myths I. Baltimore: Penguin, 1955. Print
J. Paul Getty Trust. “Grave Naiskos of Apollonia.” The J. Paul Getty Museum. n.d. Web. 1st March, 2016
“Portrait of Antonia Minor.” The J. Paul Getty Museum. n.d. Web. 1st March, 2016
Sebesta, Judith Lynn and Bonfante, Larissa. The World of Roman Costume. Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press, 2001. Print.
