Portrait of a Woman, Isidora Master
The J. Paul Getty Museum 81.AP.42
Tuesday, September 16, 2025
7:30 PM
How is authority represented? Romans commissioned portraits in abundance, whether for members of the imperial family or people of lesser rank. Augustus, the first emperor, imbedded in his portraits features and details understood by the well-educated, often with direct allusions to famous Greek examples. Dynasties developed their own visual language for the men and women, establishing portrait trends for the masses. In the second century CE, Emperor Hadrian brought back the short-cropped beard, not seen for more than five hundred years. Communities in northern Egypt, part of the Roman empire, retained traditions established as early as the Old Kingdom, while adapting the prevailing traditions of recent Greek and then Roman occupation. The resulting painted portraits, best known from the Fayum funerary district, bring us into direct contact with people who are individualized and compellingly contemporary to us.
About Dr. Katherine A. Schwab
Katherine Schwab received her BA from Scripps College, her MA from Southern Methodist University, and her PhD from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. She is Professor Emerita of Art History & Visual Culture at Fairfield University, former curator of the Plaster Cast Collection at the Fairfield University Art Museum (1991–2024) and was Founding Director of the Arts Institute established in 2023.
While specializing in ancient Greek art and archaeology, her research focuses on the Parthenon sculptural program. Scans of her metope drawings are permanently displayed in the Acropolis Museum. The original drawings formed a traveling exhibition in the United States from 2014 to 2018, including at the Timken Museum of Art. Her research extends to the Caryatid Hairstyling Project (film, 2009; exhibition Hairstyles of the Classical World, 2015) and historic plaster casts of ancient sculpture. Her drawings and photographs formed three separate exhibitions at the Greek Consulate General in New York City.
Schwab was a member of the Managing Committee of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens and returns annually to Athens for her research. Recently retired, she resides in San Diego and continues to conduct research in her focus areas.
Tickets: $16/21
The lecture will be in person at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library. There are no physical tickets for this event. Your name will be on an attendee list at the front door. Doors open at 7 p.m. Seating is first-come; first-served. Priority seating will be given to Donor level members and above.
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