A marble sculpture in the shape of the head of Aphrodite안전놀이터, a female goddess of beauty and love from Greek and Roman mythology, has been discovered in Rome, Italy.
Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri posted a picture of a marble with a human head covered in mud on Twitter on the 6th (local time). “An intact marble head was found in the Piazza Augusto Imperator,” he said. “Archaeologists and restorers are busy restoring and studying this find.”
The artifact is believed to depict Aphrodite. Claudio Parigi Presice, who manages Rome’s cultural heritage, said in a statement on the 7th that the artifact was “possibly a statue of a female deity, such as Aphrodite. It was found on the wall of an ancient building, but it is still intact.” On the artifact, he explained, one could see the shape of a tenia , which was knotted at the top of her head to make a ribbon .
Presice said the artifacts were reused as building materials and “were lucky to preserve an important piece of art”. “The practice of reusing sculptural works of significant value was very common in the late Middle Ages,” he explains.
“(The artifact) has been cleaned by a restoration expert and has been commissioned to be identified and dated by an archaeologist,” Presice said. The artifact was discovered during the ‘redevelopment of the tomb and square of Emperor Augustus’. It is estimated that the relics were made in the era of Augustus, the first emperor of ancient Rome, about 2,000 years ago.
Ancient artifacts are still often found in Rome. In January, a statue of Hercules believed to have been made during the ancient Roman Empire was unearthed while repairing sewerage facilities.