MAX RAUBER (SWISS, B. 1891): A RECTANGULAR MARBLE RELIEF DEPICTING A VESTAL VIRGIN the young woman with eyes closed in contemplation, wearing long robes, signed to the lower left 'MRauber', 92cm high x 37cm wide The Vestal Virgins were the priestesses entrusted with the perpetually burning flame in the temple of Vesta, the Roman goddess of the fire that burns in the hearth; breaking their vow of absolute chastity was punished by burial alive. The Vestal Virgins were seen as prefigurations of the Virgin Mary since the Middle Ages.