CIRCA MID 2ND CENTURY A.D.

Details

A ROMAN MARBLE PORTRAIT HEAD OF THE EMPRESS FAUSTINA MINOR
CIRCA MID 2ND CENTURY A.D.
Lifesized, her oval face with a smooth forehead, the large articulated almond-shaped eyes with drooping upper lids and deep tear ducts, her small mouth with full lips, her wavy hair center parted and pulled back over the tops of her ears, with a tapering lock before each ear; now with an 18th-century or earlier veil sculpted in veined brown marble, when this portrait was possibly converted to a head of the Madonna
12 in. (30.4 cm.) high

Provenance

Private Collection, South America, 1961.

Brought to you by

Molly Morse Limmer

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Lot Essay

Faustina Minor, Annia Galeria Faustina, born circa 125-130 A.D., was the daughter of the Emperor Antoninus Pius and Faustina Major. Her great uncle, the Emperor Hadrian, betrothed her to Lucius Verus. However, her father Antoninus favored his wife's nephew, Marcus Aurelius, to whom she was eventually married. Antoninus succeeded Hadrian as Emperor, and eventually Marcus Aurelius inherited the Antonine throne as co-Emperor with Lucius Verus, thereupon Faustina became Augusta or Empress.

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