icon caret-left icon caret-right instagram pinterest linkedin facebook twitter goodreads question-circle facebook circle twitter circle linkedin circle instagram circle goodreads circle pinterest circle

Ancient Goddesses in New York

An Online Guide to Discovering the Sacred Feminine in
Museums, Temples, and Public Places

Goddesses at The Met

 

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is abundant with divine females from every tradition. You can't cross through a room without spotting a goddess, nymph, or holy female figure. These are just a few spectacular goddesses that seem to come alive.

 

 

Flora, Goddess of Spring

Photo: Laurie Sue Brockway/Goddess Communications

 

Flora by Louis Claude Vassé, 1764.

 

Flora is known as the Roman goddess of flowers, vegetation, and fertility. She was considered a nature spirit but her powers included inspiring flowers and plants to bloom. She also had a hand in creating abundance in the natural world because she presided over growth and fertility. She sits on a tree stump and has a face that follows you through the room. This is a small version of a larger Terracotta.

Egyptian Goddess

Photo: Laurie Sue Brockway/Goddess Communications, Inc.

 

Goddess Presenting the Notched Reed Represent "Year," 825–773 B.C.

 

This goddess was part of a temple relief from 825–773 B.C.. She depicted raising her right hand and it is interpreted that there is a notched reed behind it.  "The palm branch, stripped of its leaves and notched to serve as a tally, was an Egyptian sign for "year," and gods were believed to present the reed, usually accompanied by either the sign for "one hundred thousand" or multiple jubilee signs, to the king as a promise of a long reign. Such presentations usually connected with birth, coronation-like ceremonies, or heb-sed festivals- jubilees traditionally celebrated after thirty years of rule." This is usually a role for Seshat, the goddess of scribes. This goddess is kept company by small statues of goddess sisters Sekhmet and others (pictured).

Isis as Aphrodite

Photo: Laurie Sue Brockway/Goddess Communications

 

Isis-Aphrodite, 2nd Century A.D., Egypt.

 

She is a form of the great Egyptian goddess Isis that "emphasizes the fertility aspects associated with Aphrodite." This means she was meant to bless marriage and childbirth, but also, rebirth. Figures like this may have been related to domestic or funerary situations and this continued through to Roman times. She wears the crown of Egyotian Greco-Roman Dieties. Her presence is palpatable.

Venus of the Sea

Photo: Laurie Sue Brockway/Goddess Communications

 

Venus Anadyomene.

 

This marble statue is missing her arms and legs by she has a powerful presence. The goddess of love and beauty was once fully formed, with both arms raised, "wringing water from her hair as if she was emerging from the sea."

Tyche-Fortuna, Luck Goddess

Photo: Laurie Sue Brockway/Goddess Communications

 

Marble Statue of Tyche-Fortuna, 1st or 2nd Century A.D..

 

This goddess is tall, and regal, on a high pedestal. In this statue, she is holding a cornucopia in her left hand and a steering paddle in her right, which are tools of her trade. She is an adaptation of the Greek original.She has a compelling presence. She looks sort of real like she could be a mother, sister, or friend, as well as a divine ruler with powers and grace. This statue seems to have a life of her own, but she is a bit of blended antiquity in that he is carrying the name of both goddesses and she was restored with "the portrait head of a woman." 

Cybele in Her Divine Cart Pulled by Lions

Photo: Laurie Sue Brockway/Goddess Communications
 
Cybele in her divine cart pulled by lions.

Cycladic Female (Goddess)

Photo: Laurie Sue Brockway/Goddess Communications

 

Cycladic Goddess from the Cyclades Islands

Enthroned Bhu Devi

Photo: Laurie Sue Brockway/Goddess Communications
 
Enthroned Bhu-Devi. Pandya Period, 8th-9th century.
 
She is a Hindu Goddess who is the Personification of the Earth.

Liberty

Liberty
 
 
Liberty
Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi French, 1875
 
She is quite striking and it is a surprise to come upon her in the Museum. She is a model created by the Statue of Liberty creator, Bartholdi to help raise money. The Met website explains that "This 'committee model' is part of an edition of replicas that were sold to help finance the project. Like the final monument, it shows an austere Lady Liberty raising the torch of Enlightenment with the broken chains of tyranny at her feet."

Gloria Victus

Gloria Victus
 
Marius-Jean-Antonin Mercié, French, modeled by 1874, cast before 1896.
 
The sculpture of "a winged figure of Fame bearing aloft a fallen soldier in response to France's" loss in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. It is considered an "uplifting image of heroic sacrifice." It is a beautiful portrayal of the goddess, in a unique pose. On loan to the Met.
 
Loading…}