Modern · Art Institute of Chicago · 125652
Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra
Harriet Hosmer, modeled c. 1859; carved after 1859
Art Institute of Chicago · Purchased with funds provided by the Antiquarian Society · Public domain
- Artist
- Harriet Hosmer
- Date
- modeled c. 1859; carved after 1859
- Medium
- Marble
- Dimensions
- 86.4 × 57.2 × 31.8 cm (34 × 22 1/2 × 12 1/2 in.)
- Era
- Modern
Why it matters
Zenobia was queen of the Syrian city of Palmyra and ruled it after her husband’s death in the third century. Harriet Hosmer portrayed Zenobia at the moment of her capture and defeat by the Roman emperor Aurelian in 272 CE. Rather than depict a scene of heightened drama, the sculp-tor opted for a quieter sense of grandeur, remarking, “I have tried to make her too proud to exhibit passion or emotion of any kind; not subdued, though a prisoner; but calm, grand, and strong within herself.” Hosmer was the leader of a group of women sculptors in Rome beginning in the 1850s. Many of her works feature strong, independent women drawn from history or literature.