First half of the 19th century Bust of the Goddess Hera Marble, height 56 cm The bust presented here depicts the queen of the Greek gods, Hera, as can be seen from the polos, the cylindrical headdress with which the goddess was usually depicted; also used by other ancient religions to represent those conceived as mother goddesses, it was adopted by the Greeks for the image of the goddess of marriage, marital fidelity, and childbirth. The phytomorphic motif that decorates the edge of the polos is the same one we find in other examples of ancient statuary, such as that of the Hera Ludovisi, preserved in Rome at the National Roman Museum, made in the 1st century AD. The name derives from its passage in 1622 to the collection of Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi (1595-1632), after being found in Rome in the preceding decades. In it, we find the same palmette ornament, as well as the same hairstyle, the cut of the face, and the features, although it has a greater expressive characterization deriving from the hinted smile and the more radiant gaze that creates a greater dialogue with the viewer compared to the Ludovisi head. The bust is inspired by this model, which was very successful over the centuries and especially during Neoclassicism, between the 18th and 19th centuries; the ideal beauty of this statue was praised by Winckelmann himself, who considered it the most beautiful head of Juno ever made. Other 19th-century writers and intellectuals also appreciated and exalted its splendor, such as Goethe, who kept a plaster reproduction in his Roman house, comparing it to a song by Homer, or Schiller, who described it as a model of ideal beauty. The eulogies were followed by imitations and interpretations of the original, especially during the first half of the 19th century, the period in which Neoclassical taste reached its peak and to which the period of the creation of this marble can be traced. In the late nineteenth century, the hypothesis was developed that the Hera Ludovisi is actually a portrait of Antonia Minor or even Livia, respectively niece and wife of the Emperor Augustus, with the attributes of Juno, but despite the chronological coincidence, no other clues have been identified that allow to connect with certainty the statue with the two women of the Julio-Claudian dynasty.