A ROMAN CARNELIAN RINGSTONE PORTRAIT OF LIVIA
A ROMAN CARNELIAN RINGSTONE PORTRAIT OF LIVIA

CIRCA EARLY 1ST CENTURY A.D.

Details
A ROMAN CARNELIAN RINGSTONE PORTRAIT OF LIVIA
Circa Early 1st Century A.D.
The slightly domed oval stone engraved with an idealized portrait bust of the Empress Livia, depicted draped and veiled, with a diadem in her hair
5/8 in. (1.6 cm) long

Lot Essay

According to Kleiner (I Claudia, Women in Ancient Rome, p. 59-60), during the reign of Tiberius, idealized images of his elderly mother Livia often "share the ageless youth and extraordinary beauty of the gods themselves." Compare her portrait in the guise of Pietas (piety) on a bronze dupondius minted in A.D. 22-23, no. 10 in Kleiner and Matheson, eds., I Claudia, Women in Ancient Rome.

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