Isis-Fortuna

From the second half of the first millennium BC the goddess Isis became more and more popular outside Egypt. Particularly during the Roman period, she was worshipped as a goddess who unites all other goddesses in herself. In the Ptolemaic period Isis received Hellenistic iconography in addition to her Egyptian iconography. She was the only Egyptian goddess to receive such a second "outfit." The reason, most likely, was her increasing popularity in the Hellenistic and Roman world.

This statuette of Isis displays her in a Hellenistic robe. She has a combination of cow horns, sun-disk, and ears of corn as a crown on her head, a cornucopia in her left arm, and a ship's rudder in her right hand. The cornucopia connects her to the goddess Fortuna, and the ears of corn to Demeter. The rudder stresses the aspect of Isis as patron of navigation, called Isis Pelagia. However the most important attribute is the cornucopia, which because of its size needed an additional support in the form of an extra pillar below the elbow of the goddess.

Provenance

Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.

Giovanni Dattari, Cairo, [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Lambros-Dattari Sale, Hotel Drouot, Paris, 1912, June 17-19, 1912, p. 48, no. 414; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1912, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.