Pro Romanis Art

Capitoline Beauty

FINE ART REPRODUCTION

Paper: Canon Heavy Fine Art. Shipped in a sturdy mailing tube to ensure maximum protection.

Usually ships within 4-to-5 days.

Ships from and sold by Pro Romanis Arts.

Original artwork high-resolution scan printed on high quality large format printer (at least 300 dpi) on high quality paper.

Capitoline Beauty

Fine Art Photo Print

Description

This photograph is of a young Flavian woman, possibly Vibia Matidia (85-165 AD). The bust can be found in the Capitoline museum in Rome, Italy. The subject is young and beautiful with a remarkable hair style. It’s unclear if this was her real hair, a wig or a hair extension. The style is extremely elaborate. It must have taken hours to accomplish. Romans considered hair an erotic part of the human body and an important part of how a woman presented herself. How one dressed one’s hair was an indication of a person’s status and role in society. Clearly, this woman was upper class. The work would have been done by slaves called ornatices.

Vibia Matidia

Vibia Matidia, or Matidia Minor, was the daughter of Salonia Matidia from her second marriage. Her mother was Trajan’s niece. Her half-sister, Vibia Sabina, became empress and wife of Hadrian. Hadrian was also her third cousin. After her father’s death in 85, Matidia was raised in the imperial household. Matidia never married, nor did she have any children. Yet she was a very wealthy, cultured, and influential woman. When her sister became empress, she would often travel with her and her brother-in-law. Matidia underwrote the restoration of the theatre of Sessa Aurunca which was probably damaged by an earthquake during the reign of Antoninus Pius (138-161). Her generosity was commemorated with a statue here. Matidia lived to an advanced age and outlived most of her relatives. In her later years, she was very close to her great-nephew, the future Princeps Marcus Aurelius and his family. Marcus Aurelius would sometimes allow his daughters to stay with his great-aunt. Trajan gave her a villa.

About The Photographer, Mike Tesi

Mike Tesi is a commercial and fine art photographer whose work covers an impressive breadth of styles. He has worked in advertising on major brands such as American Express, Casio, Minolta, Listerine, with his work appearing in such publications as Town & Country, Vogue, Architectural Digest, Stereo Review, Gourmet Magazine, Time and the New York Times Magazine. Mike has also worked in corporate portraiture, food stylizing, architecture, still life, nature, fine art and aerial photography. Mike’s philosophy is deceptively simple: “I communicate what I see.” But it’s not only in the seeing. It is also in the composing “…so that the elements in the frame make what I’m seeing ‘feel right.'” Mike brings the colors, tones, light and relationships of shapes, forms and lines together to “create a photograph that will spark a provocative thought or have a lasting reaction.” Others agree because he has won numerous awards and recognition from arts organizations as well as the commercial art world. You can see some of Mike’s work at miketesiphotography.com/index.