In ancient mythology, Thalia was one of the nine Muses. The Muses were female companions of the god Apollo and devoted to the arts and sciences. Although Thalia was associated with comedy, Roman poets describe her as graceful and tender.

The skilfully carved marble statue beautifully captures her spirit. The ivy wreath and shepherd's crook symbolise Thalia's connection with the countryside, from which comic performances originated. Her heavy mantle has slipped from her shoulders, revealing a thinner under-garment that accentuates her alluring female body.

The statue was discovered in 1776 by the British painter and excavator Gavin Hamilton. It came to light with a number of other sculptures in an ancient bath building of Rome's port city, Ostia. In line with practices at the time, the statue was expertly restored and then acquired by the leading British collector, Charles Townley, for his house museum in London.

This object is part of "Scan The World". Scan the World is a non-profit initiative introduced by MyMiniFactory, through which we are creating a digital archive of fully 3D printable sculptures, artworks and landmarks from across the globe for the public to access for free. Scan the World is an open source, community effort, if you have interesting items around you and would like to contribute, email stw@myminifactory.com to find out how you can help.

Scanned : Photogrammetry (Processed using Agisoft PhotoScan)