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Marcia Furnilla was a Roman noblewoman who lived in the 1st century. Furnilla was the second and last wife of the future Roman Emperor Titus as well as the aunt of the future emperor Trajan . Family. Marcia Furnilla came from a noble and distinguished family.
Sep 21, 2018 · The Incongruous Body: Portrait of ‘Marcia Furnilla’ as Venus; Rosemary Barrow, Roehampton University, London; Prepared for publication by Michael Silk, King's College London; Book: Gender, Identity and the Body in Greek and Roman Sculpture; Online publication: 21 September 2018; Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781139600439.009
The statue called Marcia Furnilla depicts a Roman matron in the guise of Venus. The figure has an elaborate hairstyle with a halo of curls framing her face. The remaining hair is divided into braids that are then twisted into a large bun at the back of her head.
Title: Marcia Furnilla, from Roman Emperors and Empresses Artist: Aegidius Sadeler II (Netherlandish, Antwerp 1568–1629 Prague) Publisher: Marcus Sadeler (German, Munich before 1614–in or after 1650)
A free-standing Roman portrait of a late Flavian period Roman lady, perhaps Marcia Furnilla, the second wife of the emperor Titus. The woman has depicted herself as Venus/Aphrodite. (the feet of an "eros," or cupid survive at the base of the statue on the left).
Her younger sister Marcia Furnilla was the second wife of emperor Titus. Marcia was a maternal aunt to Furnilla's and Titus' daughter Flavia. Marcia's paternal uncle was the senator Quintus Marcius Barea Soranus, while her paternal cousin was the noblewoman Marcia Servilia Sorana.
In her statue Marcia Furnilla is given the body of Venus, which acts as a kind of costume; the woman's actual body is replaced by a divine one. This explains the contrast between Furnilla's aged face and round youthful body.
