Allia Potestas

Allia Potestas, 2011

Once powerful rulers and thinkers have often been erased from history through the destruction of representations of them in artwork, and text. In ancient Rome this was called, Damnatio Memoriae, (damnation of memory). Sculpted portraits of leaders were systematically obliterated. This was the case of Hatshepsut, an Egyptian Queen and a myriad of others. How many women have been erased from history? 

In the summer of 2010, while studying ancient art and archeology in Rome, a eulogy on a tombstone at the Epigraphic Museum spoke to me - a rare portrait of a woman, Allia Potestas. This Latin eulogy describes a common woman in loving terms, a rather unusual example, in public documents. She was a former slave and weaver, a woman who lived with two men, her lovers, one of whom commissioned the tombstone. As I heard the text translated, an image started to form in my mind, the impetus for a project.

Throughout the ancient world, women are mere traces in the annals of history. Blurry, hazy, smudged - indistinct figures whose names are the only remains if that. According to most historical documents, women have scarcely contributed to the development of society and culture. To this day, in many places throughout the world, women are not acknowledged as significant contributors.

I painted this portrait in 2011 using a friend as a model. Recently, this friend passed away much too young, like Allia Potestas, which has made me think that I should revisit a project I started 10 years ago. 

Sepulchral Inscription for Allia Potestas (1-4th cnetury CE)