WOMAN WITH FOUR BABIES

An entreaty or thanks rendered for a prayer answered

Fertility was in the hands of the gods but gifts were necessary to attract their attention and secure their favour.

The enthroned woman holds four babies in her lap while breast-feeding the uppermost. The figure is one of many of the type discovered in a sanctuary at Capua in Campania. The sanctuary was consecrated to a fertility or mother goddess, possibly Fortuna or Juno. The exact intention of the donor is uncertain. This may be a case of a gift offered in gratitude for a successful birth or as a votive in hope of the same.