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Vesta, goddess of the hearth and household, fire, and purity Engraving, by Jan van Vianen, before 1803 |
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| A seated Vesta rests beside a cow and two goats, cradling a lamb—creatures tied to sacrificial rites. Above her float Roman coin motifs: one bearing a bust inscribed VESTA P.R. QVIRITIVM (‘Vesta of the Roman People, of the Quirites’), another showing a sacred flame atop an altar, and a third depicting the round temple of Vesta. She appears both domestic and divine, guardian of the hearth and of Rome itself. |
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