Portraits of Women as Goddesses and Heroines in Cross-Gendered Dress from the Roman Imperial Period

Abstract

This study focuses on the private portraits of women as goddesses and heroines in cross-gendered dress – Omphale, Penthesilea, Virtus, Diana, Atalante, as well as the demythologized versions thereof – which were set-up in funerary contexts of Rome especially, between the late 1st and early 4th centuries CE. This is the first comprehensive analysis of these portrait types, connected on the basis of their cross-gendered dress. The production of these portrait types for women initially seems surprising. Female-to-male cross-dressing was perceived as a transgressive act in Roman society; moreover, the portrait types for women typically emphasized their femininity, modesty and passivity. As such, the primary aim is to determine how the visualization of women in cross-gendered dress became a praiseworthy form of commemoration. It is possible to approach these monuments using semiotics, against the background of theories of gender, dress and social memory. The private portraits of women as goddesses and heroines in cross-gendered dress serve as “sites of memory” not just for their families and closest friends, but also for their social groups. This presents certain possibilities for representing the female deceased, while imposing certain constraints. It appears that the sartorial code expresses a particularly “female” virtus not only in its own right, but also in conjunction with other signs, which complements their more traditional virtues in meaningful ways. In the final analysis, this seeming cultural “violation” is certainly striking and exceptional, yet the messages it conveys hardly challenge traditional gender roles, relations and hierarchies.