The Niobid Project: Digital Modeling and Restoration of a Complex Sculptural Group at Hadrian's Villa

Abstract

In Greek myth, Niobe was the queen of Thebes who displayed arrogance toward the goddess Leto and was punished by having to endure the death of her seven sons and seven daughters at the hands of Leto's children, Artemis and Apollo. A fourth-century BC group of 16 statues (Niobe, the fourteen children, and a male figure known as the Pedagogue) survives in various Roman copies from various imperial and public contexts. Here we report on a project to digitally scan and restore the statues, putting them back into the ancient context where they were displayed at Hadrian's Villa.