The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 21, 2024

Portrait Head of a Woman, Probably the Empress Faustina Minor

Portrait Head of a Woman, Probably the Empress Faustina Minor

c. 165 CE
Overall: 25.4 cm (10 in.)
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.
  • Howard, Rossiter. "Two Imperial Roman Portraits." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 12, no. 7 (1925): 123-124, 131. 25136854
    Bieber, Margarete. “Roman Sculpture in the Cleveland Museum.” Art in America 32 (April 1944): 65–83. Fig. 9 (p. 73), discussed pp. 75-76.
    Vermeule, Cornelius C. "Greek and Roman Portraits in North American Collections Open to the Public: A Survey of Important Monumental Likenesses in Marble and Bronze Which Have Not Been Published Extensively." Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 108, no. 2 (1964): 99-134. Mentioned p. 104. 985890.
    Vermeule, Cornelius C. Greek and Roman Sculpture in America: Masterpieces in Public Collections in the United States and Canada. Malibu, Calif: The J. Paul Getty Museum, 1981. P. 332, no. 284.
    Kleiner, Diana E. E., and Susan B. Matheson. I, Claudia: Women in Ancient Rome. New Haven, Conn: Yale University Art Gallery, 1996. Reproduced: p. 15, fig. 3; p. 72, cat. # 26; Mention: p. 71
  • I Claudia, Women in Ancient Rome. Yale University Art Gallery (organizer) (September 6-December 1, 1996); San Antonio Museum of Art (December 20, 1996-March 2, 1997); North Carolina Museum of Art (April 6-June 15, 1997).
  • {{cite web|title=Portrait Head of a Woman, Probably the Empress Faustina Minor|url=false|author=|year=c. 165 CE|access-date=21 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1925.161