This Roman bronze sculpture ca. 1571–1590 depicts a siren from Greek mythology, believed to be an emblem of the

Colonna family The House of Colonna is an Italian noble family, forming part of the papal nobility. It played a pivotal role in Middle Ages, medieval and Roman Renaissance, Renaissance Rome, supplying one pope (Pope Martin V, Martin V), 23 cardinals and many ot ...

, and first recorded in the collection of the Cardinal

Francesco Maria del Monte Francesco Maria del Monte, full name Francesco Maria Bourbon del Monte Santa Maria, (5 July 1549 – 27 August 1627) was an Italian cardinal, diplomat, and connoisseur of the arts. His fame today rests on his early patronage of the important Bar ...

before passing into the

Barberini family The House of Barberini is a family of the Italian nobility that rose to prominence in the 17th century Rome. Their influence peaked with the election of Cardinal Maffeo Barberini to the papal throne in 1623, as Pope Urban VIII. Their urban pa ...

. A female figure, nude from the waist up, boasts a crown and a multi-tentacled mermadic lower body. With her chin up and her arms outstretched, she grasps a scaly tentacle with each hand.

References

16th-century sculptures * Sculptures of mermaids Sculptures of classical mythology Sculptures in the Metropolitan Museum of Art {{NewYork-sculpture-stub