Piecing Together a Lost History: Two Roman Stucco Reliefs from the Art Institute of Chicago

This study considers the history and iconographic significance of two Roman stucco reliefs at the Art Institute of Chicago. The design and composition of these little-known works is intriguing; however, the museum possesses little information regarding their subject matter, medium, function, or provenance and they remain unpublished to date. The goal of this study is both to fill in these gaps and to open a dialogue about the current state of research on these and related images focusing on the ambiguity of representations of women in domestic design and the particular issues of provenance concerning stucco reliefs.