The statue – a replica from Baiae of a model already known in Arezzo, maybe attributable to Praxiteles – was discovered in the waters of the port of Baia at the beginning of the 1920s among the submerged remains of the imperial palace. It represents the goddess Athena, standing and slightly resting on her right leg.
The separately worked head was lost, and so was the right arm, never found. We can imagine it in a stretched position for the presence of the remains of a prop at the height of the hip.
Due to the sketchy carving of the backside, it was assumed that the statue was originally placed in a niche.
The statue does not present signs of biological colonisation.
Maniscalco, F. 1995, ‘Un ninfeo severiano nelle acque del porto di Baia’, Ostraka, 4(2), p. 268.
Maniscalco, F. 1997, Ninfei ed edifici marittimi severiani del Palatium imperiale di Baia. Napoli: Massa Editore, pp. 55-56.
Napoli, M. 1953 ‘Di una villa marittima di Baia’, Bollettino di Storia dell’Arte. Istituto Universitario di Magistero, Salerno, III(1), pp. 87–88.
Zevi F. (cur.) 2009, Museo archeologico dei Campi Flegrei. Castello di Baia. Napoli: Electa Napoli, vol. 3, p. 135