Portrait Head of a Woman, Probably the Empress Faustina Minor

c. 165 CE

Italy, Roman

Medium

marble

Measurements

Overall: 25.4 cm (10 in.)

Credit Line

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1925.161

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Location

103 Roman

Did You Know?

Scholars have disagreed about this portrait's identity—probably an empress, either Faustina Minor or Lucilla.

Description

Acquired in 1925, this head was initially identified as a portrait of the Empress Lucilla (lived AD 149-182), wife of the Emperor Lucius Verus, who co-ruled with Marcus Aurelius from AD 161-169. More recently, scholars have identified the portrait as a representation of the Empress Faustina Minor (lived c. AD 130-176/177), wife of Marcus Aurelius (r. 161-180) and mother of Lucilla. The two women, relatively close in age, share a number of portrait features: heavy-lidded eyes, with incised irises and pupils; small mouth; and a distinctive hairstyle, parted in the center and pulled back in waves to a braided knot at the base of the neck.