A ROMAN CARNELIAN INTAGLIO PORTRAIT OF JULIA DOMNA

Details

A ROMAN CARNELIAN INTAGLIO PORTRAIT OF JULIA DOMNA
Circa late 2nd/early 3rd Century A.D.

The beautifully engraved draped bust in profile to the left, wearing her wavy hair pulled back over her ears and tied in an upwards double plait at the back of the head, with sensitively rendered facial features, together with corroded elements of the original silver setting
20.48 x 14.51mm

Lot Essay

Julia Domna was the second wife of the Emperor Septimus Severus, whom she married in A.D. 185. She outlived her husband by six years, witnessed the murder of her son Geta, and finally died or committed suicide in A.D. 217 upon hearing of the death of her other son, the Emperor Caracalla. Her distinctive likeness is clearly recognized in many surviving portraits in marble, on coins, and on engraved gems. See, for example, her portrait on an aureus in the Museo Nazionale, Naples, no. 68 in Breglia, Roman Imperial Coins.