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A Marble Portrait Head of Faustina the Younger, Roman Imperial, A.D. 147-149
Estimate
12,000 - 18,000 USD
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Description
- A Marble Portrait Head of Faustina the Younger, Roman Imperial
- Marble
- Height 9 1/4 in. 23.2 cm.
the daughter of Antoninus Pius and Faustina the Elder depicted at age 17, originally turned slightly to her left, with oval face and heavy-lidded eyes with incised irises and drilled crescentic pupils, her centrally-parted hair arranged in two overlapping lobed curls on either side of the forehead, brushed back over the ears, bound in a narrow braid beginning at the top of the head and pulled tightly back and into six plaits gathered in a circular chignon.
Provenance
French private collection, acquired in Paris in the 1950s
French private collection, by descent
French private collection, by descent
Condition
Nose damaged as shown, tip of chin and neck restored in plaster, rims of ears chipped, chips to top and proper right side of chignon, hair slightly weathered, face cleaned and repolished, scattered chips, abrasions, and scratches, various areas areas of brownish staining mostly on proper right cheek and back of head.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
Catalogue Note
The main and most canonical example of this portrait type, the first one in the chronology of Faustina's portraits, is in the Museo Capitolino in Rome, inv. no. 449 (K. Fittschen – P. Zanker, Katalog der römischen Porträts in den Capitolinischen Museen und den anderen kommunalen Sammlungen der Stadt Rom, vol. 3., Mainz, 1983, pp. 20 f., cat. no. 19, pl. 24-26: http://arachne.uni-koeln.de/item/objekt/16300).
The present head shows a slight departure from the main type in the arrangement of the hair above the ears, a variation known only from two other heads: Glyptothek, Munich, inv. no. 408 (http://arachne.uni-koeln.de/item/objekt/37547), and Palazzo Colonna, Rome (both grouped under Type 1, variant c, by K. Fittschen, Die Bildnistypen der Faustina minor und die Fecunditas Augustae, Göttingen, 1982, pp. 46-47 [both heads are illustrated on pl. 13]).
The present head shows a slight departure from the main type in the arrangement of the hair above the ears, a variation known only from two other heads: Glyptothek, Munich, inv. no. 408 (http://arachne.uni-koeln.de/item/objekt/37547), and Palazzo Colonna, Rome (both grouped under Type 1, variant c, by K. Fittschen, Die Bildnistypen der Faustina minor und die Fecunditas Augustae, Göttingen, 1982, pp. 46-47 [both heads are illustrated on pl. 13]).
There is an old label printed "U" on the plaster neck.