Ceres was directly involved in the lives of humans. As the Roman goddess of agriculture and harvest, she controlled the growing crops and made sure people had enough to eat. Our word in English, “cereal,” comes from her name. What imagery do you see that tells you that this is a statue of Ceres?
Shango is a demigod, or half-god, from the Yoruba tradition. Yoruba can be traced back to the current country of Nigeria. When honoring or summoning Shango, priests would dance while holding a double-headed axe. This one has a woman with a double-headed axe on her head. What kind of dance would you do to honor a demigod?
Artists make Shetani sculptures to show what they think the Shetani spirits look like. Shetani are mischievous and sometimes dangerous spirits in East African mythology. Does this sculpture look like how you would imagine a mischievous spirit would look?
Always on the move, Diana is the Roman goddess of wild animals and hunting. She also later became the goddess of the moon, like her Greek counterpart, Artemis. This sculpture is a smaller copy of one that stood on top of a building in New York City. Where would you put a sculpture of Diana?