Rare life-sized statues of a toga-clad couple unearthed in Pompeii tomb

Archaeologists have uncovered two nearly life-size statues in a necropolis near Porta Sarno, one of Pompeii’s city gates. The figures, carved into the wall of a tomb, are believed to be a funerary relief depicting a couple who were once buried at the site. As per a statement from Pompeii Archaeological Park, the cemetery primarily contains cremation burials, with several niches carved into the tomb’s wall that once held funerary urns.

The statues, dating back to Rome’s Late Republican period (between the second and first century B.C.E.), are considered rare finds in southern Italy. “This could be her husband, but it could also be her son,” said Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the archaeological park, in a statement to The Guardian. “There was no inscription, so we don’t know.”

The male figure is depicted wearing a simple toga, while the female figure is adorned with a large cloak over a tunic and multiple accessories. Among her carved jewelry are bracelets, a wedding ring, amphora-shaped earrings, and a lunula pendant—an amulet shaped like a crescent moon that Roman girls wore until marriage to ward off evil.


In her right hand, she holds laurel leaves, which Roman priests and priestesses traditionally used in purification rituals. In her left hand, she carries a cylindrical object, possibly a scroll. “She really looks like a very important woman in the local elite,” Zuchtriegel noted. “There is also this idea that she could have been a priestess of Ceres, holding these plants and what appears to be a papyrus roll.”

Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture, fertility, and motherhood, was symbolically linked to the moon, as its phases were thought to correspond with harvest cycles. This connection could explain the lunula pendant worn by the female figure, researchers suggest.


“Since women in Roman society were commonly relegated to the domestic sphere and to the tasks of the Roman matron, being a priestess was the highest social rank to which a woman could aspire,” they write.

Sophie Hay, a British archaeologist working at Pompeii, told The Telegraph, “She was the goddess of agriculture and cereals but she was also associated with fertility and new life. She was widely revered.”

The funerary relief’s age and craftsmanship alone make it an extraordinary discovery. However, its potential depiction of a priestess holding religious objects adds another layer of significance. The researchers emphasize that this statue provides fresh evidence that Ceres “has a clear place in the officially sanctioned religion in Pompeii, with a dedicated priestess.”

Later this month, the funerary reliefs will go on display at the Pompeii Archaeological Park as part of an exhibition titled Being a Woman in Ancient Pompeii. Visitors will have the opportunity to observe experts as they clean and conserve the sculptures.