Bust of female statue

Giuseppe Acerbi chose this bust of a female statue to embellish the entrance to the headquarters of the Consulate General of Austria in Alexandria, Egypt. As a watercolour drawing in the Biblioteca Teresiana in Mantua attests, the bust was positioned at the beginning of the staircase leading to the upper floor of the building. At the time, the sculpture retained part of the left arm, which has now disappeared, perhaps also the eyes and eyebrows, in other material, which the drawing details in black and white. Although the face is currently very damaged – apart from the eyes and eyebrows, the nose, part of the mouth, left cheek and chin are missing – one can still grasp the formal elegance of this sculpture representing a goddess. This can be deduced from what survives of the hieroglyphic inscription engraved on the back pillar, containing the initial part of the dedication of a ruler, whose name has been lost.