The Old Market Woman at the Met

The Old Market Woman is one of our favorite statues in the Greek and Roman galleries at the Met. Likely carved sometime during the Julio-Claudian dynasty in the first century, it forms a striking realist contrast to the grandiose idealism that characterizes much Roman sculpture. Her drooping eyes, lined face, and importuning posture make the statue not merely human but humane, a gesture of sympathy held across the centuries.