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Lot Essay
The position of the two locks at the center of the forehead is characteristic of what scholars see as the Emperor's second portrait style, typified by an example from Ostia now in the Vatican, the Sala a Croce Greca 595 type. This portrait is thought to have been created circa 147-149 A.D. at the time of the celebration of the Emperor's decennalia (tenth year of rule).
Titus Aurelius Fulvius Boionius Antoninus was born 19 September 86 A.D. at Lanuvium, near Rome, to a consular family. Ancient sources (Historia Augusta) inform that he served as quaestor in 112 A.D., praetor in 117, and consul in 120. Under Emperor Hadrian he was a consular administrator of Italy and later, between 130-135, he became the proconsul of Asia. In early 138, following the death of Hadrian's intended successor Aelius Verus, the honor was subsequently bestowed on Antoninus. Following Hadrian's death later that year, the new Emperor worked toward the deification of his adoptive father. His devotion to Hadrian's memory inspired the Senate to bestow upon Antoninus the name "Pius."
Antoninus Pius was a model emperor who provided the Empire with a period of fortune, religious piety and security, perhaps unmatched in imperial annals. As his successor Marcus Aurelius described in Meditations, his character was that of "gentleness and unshaken resolution in judgments...; no vainglory about external honors; love of work and perseverance;... the desire to award every man according to desert without partiality."
Titus Aurelius Fulvius Boionius Antoninus was born 19 September 86 A.D. at Lanuvium, near Rome, to a consular family. Ancient sources (Historia Augusta) inform that he served as quaestor in 112 A.D., praetor in 117, and consul in 120. Under Emperor Hadrian he was a consular administrator of Italy and later, between 130-135, he became the proconsul of Asia. In early 138, following the death of Hadrian's intended successor Aelius Verus, the honor was subsequently bestowed on Antoninus. Following Hadrian's death later that year, the new Emperor worked toward the deification of his adoptive father. His devotion to Hadrian's memory inspired the Senate to bestow upon Antoninus the name "Pius."
Antoninus Pius was a model emperor who provided the Empire with a period of fortune, religious piety and security, perhaps unmatched in imperial annals. As his successor Marcus Aurelius described in Meditations, his character was that of "gentleness and unshaken resolution in judgments...; no vainglory about external honors; love of work and perseverance;... the desire to award every man according to desert without partiality."