Ariadne of Naxso - White Carrara marble sculpture, Italy 19th century

"ARIADNE OF NAXOS". White Carrara marble sculpture. Italy. 19th century. Dimensions: HxWxD: 60x80x25 cm.

The sculpture is inspired by the specimen preserved in the Vatican Museums, a Roman copy from the 2nd century AD of a Hellenistic work from the Pergamon School (2nd century BC). This statue was long identified as Cleopatra due to the serpentine bracelet, but later studies have confirmed the identification as Ariadne, depicted asleep and found by Dionysus on the island of Naxos. The sculpture depicts a female figure lying on her side, her left arm raised above her head and the other bent, her hand supporting her face. The flowing drapery and melancholy pose recall classical depictions of Ariadne, the Cretan princess abandoned by Theseus on the island of Naxos. A distinctive detail is the snake-shaped bracelet on the left arm, a feature that in the past led to the figure being mistakenly identified as Cleopatra. However, the iconography and posture are more consistent with the myth of Ariadne, as evidenced by the famous sculpture in the Vatican Museums.