IMPORTANT MARBLE PORTRAIT OF A SEVERAN LADY, POSSIBLY JULIA DOMNA
Ca. Early 3rd century AD.
An over life-sized portrait, gracefully sculpted, the Empress portrayed as a mature woman, her oval shaped face is smooth with a round dimpled chin. Her bow-shaped lips gently ajar, her characteristic bulging almond-shaped eyes articulated with kidney-shaped pupils and drilled irises, her upper lids drooping, the bridge of her slender nose merging with her gracefully-arching brows, their feathering lightly incised, her hair parted in the centre and cascading in undulating waves, framing her face and concealing most of her ears, with a thin braid above the waves, all pulled back into an elaborate braided chignon, with a wispy tendril in lower relief before each ear, and a single tendril falling on the left side of her neck. These details given by the sculptor are a testament to the portrait’s realism and heighten the contrast between the gentle, relaxed, motionless face of the subject and her wavy, heavy, voluminous hairstyle. This portrait thus reflects part of the daily life of Roman women. Item comes with a professional historical report from Ancient Report Specialists.
Christie’s, Antiquities 8890, 5th October 2000, lot 241. Yale University of Art: Accession Number 2010.143.1. Musee de Louvre, Accession Number: MNB 783: MA 1104.
Cf. Hans Jucker and Dietrich Willers, Gesichter: Griechische und römische Bildnisse aus Schweizer Besitz, exh. cat. (Bern: Archaeologisches Seminar der Universität Bern, 1983), 166-67, no. 68, ill.
Flemming Johansen, Roman Portraits: Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, 3 vols. (Copenhagen: Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, 1994–95), vol. 3, p. 28.
Size: L:555mm / W:270mm ; 35.07kg
Provenance: Private collection of a London doctor; previously with a London Ancient Art Gallery; Acquired from an old Suffolk, UK collection, 1980s. Formerly in 19th C English collection (based on the restoration techniques and information provided by the vendor).
Estimate: GBP 100000 - 200000