Cameo: Julio-Claudian Imperial Portrait

30 BCE–54 CE

Italy, Rome, Early Imperial period

Medium

travertine

Measurements

Overall: 4.6 x 6.4 cm (1 13/16 x 2 1/2 in.)

Credit Line

John L. Severance Fund 1991.154

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Location

103 Roman

Did You Know?

The Julio-Claudian family included the first five emperors of Rome: Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero.

Description

This fragment of a cameo depicts a man wearing a laurel crown and facing right. Roman cameo gems were made by carving through layers of banded semiprecious stones to create an image, here a portrait in off-white with a tan background. Scholars have identified this portrait as various members of the Julio-Claudian imperial family based on the laurel crown and style of the portrait.

The close-cropped wavy hair, thinly arched brow, aquiline nose, and rounded chin are similar to depictions of many Julio-Claudian princes and emperors who can only be differentiated by inscriptions. The imperial family was represented with very similar features to support a unified dynastic image.