Further Media
The three female statues, which became famous under the names "Large Herculaneum Woman" and "Small Herculaneum Women", were among the first important finds made during excavations on the site of the ancient city of Herculaneum in the first half of the 18th century. The distinguished women, clad in richly fabricated garments, once adorned the stage building of the ancient theatre.
In 1736, the three sculptures arrived, via stopovers in Rome and Vienna, at the Saxon court in Dresden, where the librarian and antiquities researcher Johann Joachim Winckelmann enthusiastically studied them in 1754.
Johann Joachim Winckelmann, about whom we will tell you more later, wrote a song of praise for the female Herculaneum figures:
"The three Vestal virgins are worthy of veneration on two counts. They are the first great discoveries of Herculanum: what alone makes them even more valuable is the great manner of their garments. [...] It deserves to be made known to the world that these three divine pieces showed the first tracks towards the subsequent discovery of the subterranean treasures of the city of Herculanum."