Collection record · Objects & craft
Portrait Head of a Woman, Probably the Empress Faustina Minor
The collection record classifies this work as sculpture. It is dated c. 165 CE. Recorded culture or place: Italy, Roman.
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A closer look at the details.
- Museum title
- Portrait Head of a Woman, Probably the Empress Faustina Minor
- Date
- c. 165 CE
- Culture / origin
- Italy, Roman
- Materials and technique
- marble
- Dimensions
- Overall: 25.4 cm (10 in.)
- Artist / maker
- Not specified by the museum
- Museum
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Accession number
- 1925.161
FROM THE MUSEUM
In the museum’s words
The following description is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art’s original English record.
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.
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Text and image sources
The Cleveland Museum of Art · Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund · CC0
The summary is based on public collection data. Refer to the museum’s latest record for the title, date and attribution.
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