﻿422 
  MR 
  ANDREW 
  COVENTRY'S 
  NOTICE 
  OF 
  

  

  with 
  a 
  fillet 
  of 
  hair 
  bound 
  round 
  the 
  head. 
  If 
  this 
  observation 
  be 
  correct 
  (and 
  

   I 
  have 
  since 
  found 
  it 
  in 
  Muller),* 
  then 
  it 
  furnishes 
  us 
  with 
  one 
  presumption 
  more 
  

   for 
  the 
  bust 
  being 
  that 
  of 
  Octavia 
  ; 
  since, 
  if 
  it 
  must 
  belong 
  to 
  her 
  age, 
  it 
  is 
  no 
  

   stretch 
  to 
  say 
  that 
  it 
  may 
  more 
  fairly 
  be 
  given 
  to 
  her 
  than 
  to 
  any 
  other, 
  when 
  

   we 
  take 
  into 
  account 
  its 
  perfect 
  accordance 
  with 
  her 
  character, 
  and 
  its 
  resem- 
  

   blance 
  to 
  her 
  brother, 
  Augustus. 
  

  

  Such 
  are 
  the 
  various 
  grounds 
  on 
  which 
  I 
  should 
  be 
  disposed 
  to 
  rest. 
  That 
  

   they 
  amount 
  to 
  proofs 
  I 
  do 
  not 
  pretend, 
  for 
  well 
  I 
  know 
  the 
  difficulty 
  in 
  all 
  such 
  

   matters 
  of 
  getting 
  more 
  than 
  presumptions. 
  Uncertainty 
  hangs 
  over 
  too 
  many 
  

   of 
  the 
  finest 
  remains 
  of 
  antiquity, 
  making 
  the 
  Clite 
  of 
  one 
  person 
  the 
  Isis 
  of 
  

   another, 
  and 
  raising 
  a 
  question, 
  whether 
  the 
  beautiful 
  Ariadne 
  in 
  our 
  adjoining 
  

   room 
  is 
  not, 
  after 
  all, 
  a 
  Bacchus, 
  as 
  Visconti 
  and 
  the 
  latest 
  editor 
  of 
  Winckel- 
  

   mannf 
  maintain. 
  Enough, 
  then, 
  if 
  I 
  may 
  be 
  thought 
  to 
  have 
  adduced 
  reasonable 
  

   grounds 
  of 
  belief, 
  and 
  all 
  that 
  could 
  be 
  hoped 
  for 
  at 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  nineteen 
  cen- 
  

   turies, 
  with 
  no 
  contemporary 
  record 
  of 
  the 
  features, 
  and 
  scarce 
  a 
  relic 
  left 
  to 
  

   guide 
  us. 
  

  

  The 
  bust 
  may 
  have 
  been 
  made 
  at 
  Rome 
  by 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  numerous 
  Greek 
  

   artists 
  who 
  flocked 
  there, 
  encouraged 
  by 
  Cicero 
  and 
  Atticus. 
  Octavia 
  j 
  was 
  more 
  

   than 
  once 
  at 
  Athens, 
  the 
  idol 
  and 
  the 
  charm 
  of 
  it, 
  but 
  this 
  was 
  as 
  a 
  married 
  

   woman, 
  — 
  and 
  the 
  bust 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  made 
  before 
  her 
  marriage, 
  if 
  we 
  may 
  

   safely 
  judge 
  by 
  the 
  hair 
  tied 
  behind 
  in 
  a 
  knot, 
  and 
  not 
  as 
  matrons 
  were 
  in 
  the 
  

   habit 
  of 
  wearing 
  it. 
  There 
  is 
  no 
  reason 
  for 
  supposing 
  that 
  the 
  drapery 
  may 
  not 
  

   be 
  of 
  high 
  antiquity. 
  The 
  Carrara, 
  or, 
  as 
  they 
  were 
  then 
  termed, 
  the 
  Luna 
  marble 
  

   quarries, 
  were 
  open 
  before 
  her 
  day, 
  in 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  Julius 
  Caesar. 
  § 
  

  

  Since 
  preparing 
  this 
  notice, 
  I 
  received 
  by 
  to-day's 
  post 
  the 
  following 
  very 
  in- 
  

   teresting 
  communication 
  from 
  Mr 
  Burgon 
  of 
  the 
  British 
  Museum, 
  which 
  was 
  sent 
  

   me 
  by 
  Sir 
  David 
  Dundas. 
  

  

  " 
  Mus. 
  Brit., 
  Feb. 
  14, 
  1852. 
  

   " 
  Dear 
  Sir 
  David, 
  

  

  " 
  I 
  beg 
  to 
  return 
  my 
  best 
  thanks 
  to 
  your 
  friend 
  for 
  his 
  very 
  

  

  kind 
  compliance 
  with 
  my 
  suggestion, 
  in 
  sending 
  me 
  two 
  new 
  photographs. 
  I 
  

  

  hope 
  they 
  may 
  be 
  thought 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  productive 
  of 
  some 
  fruit. 
  I 
  have 
  done 
  

  

  my 
  best 
  in 
  coming 
  to 
  a 
  conclusion, 
  and 
  have 
  made 
  up 
  my 
  mind 
  to 
  suggest 
  that 
  the 
  

  

  bust 
  represents 
  Antonia, 
  the 
  daughter 
  of 
  M. 
  Antonius 
  and 
  Octavia. 
  She 
  was 
  the 
  

  

  wife 
  of 
  Drusus, 
  and 
  the 
  mother 
  of 
  Germanicus 
  and 
  of 
  Claudius, 
  who 
  struck 
  coins 
  

  

  in 
  her 
  honour. 
  She 
  was 
  a 
  personage 
  of 
  high 
  celebrity 
  and 
  a 
  very 
  likely 
  person 
  

  

  to 
  have 
  a 
  fine 
  bust, 
  having 
  had 
  the 
  honour 
  of 
  numismatic 
  deification 
  at 
  least. 
  

  

  * 
  Muller's 
  " 
  Ancient 
  Art 
  and 
  its 
  Remains," 
  pp. 
  169-70. 
  

  

  f 
  Winckelmann, 
  p. 
  96. 
  J 
  Merivale's 
  Roman 
  Empire, 
  III., 
  309. 
  

  

  § 
  Burton's 
  Rome, 
  I., 
  22 
  ; 
  and 
  II., 
  303. 
  

  

  