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Lot Essay
Faustina Minor (the Younger), Annia Galeria Faustina, born circa 125-130 A.D., was the daughter of the Emperor Antoninus Pius and Faustina Major (the Elder). Her great uncle, the Emperor Hadrian, betrothed her to Lucius Verus. However, her father Antoninus favored his wife's nephew, Marcus Aurelius, to whom she was eventually married. Antoninus succeeded Hadrian as Emperor, and eventually Marcus Aurelius inherited the Antonine throne as co-Emperor with Lucius Verus, thereupon Faustina became Augusta or Empress.
Faustina bore at least twelve children for the Emperor, only six of whom survived past youth. Five were girls, with the future Emperor Commodus the only male heir. Their daughter Lucilla was later betrothed to Lucius Verus.
Faustina was beloved by the Roman soldiers, as she accompanied her husband on several military campaigns, and they bestowed her with the title Mater Castrorum or Mother of the Camp. She died in 175 A.D. while abroad at a military camp in Halala in Cappadocia, which was renamed Faustinopolis in her honor. Faustina was buried in the Mausoleum of Hadrian in Rome and was deified by her devoted husband. Contemporary literature was less kind to Faustina. She was recorded as a murderer, schemer and adulterer. However, Marcus Aurelius defended her vigorously against these claims.
According to Kleiner (Roman Sculpture, p. 277), "female portraiture under the Antonines both resembles and departs from contemporary male portraiture." Their facial features follow the trends of the male portraits, however, while the men are portrayed with deeply drilled full hair, the women's coiffures are carved in the classicizing style of Hadrian's wife Sabina. Furthermore, Kleiner notes (p. 278, op. cit.), "It might well be said that the portraits of Faustina the Younger, with their smooth youthfulness and sectioned coiffure, come as close as any portraits of the second century to resuscitating the Augustan ideals of womanhood."
Portraits of Faustina Minor have been divided into nine main types, signifying events in the Imperial house, and correlating to contemporary coinage. The present example represents her eighth and penultimate portrait type, commemorating the 162 A.D. birth of a son, Marcus Annius Verus, and Marcus Aurelius' 161 A.D. ascension to the throne. For related portraits of the Empress with the same coiffure and features, see pp. 60-62, nos. 1, 3, 9, and 10 in Fittschen, Die Bildnistypen der Faustina minor und die Fecunditas Augustae. The portrait presented here is especially close to the example formerly in the Terme Museum, Rome (Fittschen, no. 3).
Faustina bore at least twelve children for the Emperor, only six of whom survived past youth. Five were girls, with the future Emperor Commodus the only male heir. Their daughter Lucilla was later betrothed to Lucius Verus.
Faustina was beloved by the Roman soldiers, as she accompanied her husband on several military campaigns, and they bestowed her with the title Mater Castrorum or Mother of the Camp. She died in 175 A.D. while abroad at a military camp in Halala in Cappadocia, which was renamed Faustinopolis in her honor. Faustina was buried in the Mausoleum of Hadrian in Rome and was deified by her devoted husband. Contemporary literature was less kind to Faustina. She was recorded as a murderer, schemer and adulterer. However, Marcus Aurelius defended her vigorously against these claims.
According to Kleiner (Roman Sculpture, p. 277), "female portraiture under the Antonines both resembles and departs from contemporary male portraiture." Their facial features follow the trends of the male portraits, however, while the men are portrayed with deeply drilled full hair, the women's coiffures are carved in the classicizing style of Hadrian's wife Sabina. Furthermore, Kleiner notes (p. 278, op. cit.), "It might well be said that the portraits of Faustina the Younger, with their smooth youthfulness and sectioned coiffure, come as close as any portraits of the second century to resuscitating the Augustan ideals of womanhood."
Portraits of Faustina Minor have been divided into nine main types, signifying events in the Imperial house, and correlating to contemporary coinage. The present example represents her eighth and penultimate portrait type, commemorating the 162 A.D. birth of a son, Marcus Annius Verus, and Marcus Aurelius' 161 A.D. ascension to the throne. For related portraits of the Empress with the same coiffure and features, see pp. 60-62, nos. 1, 3, 9, and 10 in Fittschen, Die Bildnistypen der Faustina minor und die Fecunditas Augustae. The portrait presented here is especially close to the example formerly in the Terme Museum, Rome (Fittschen, no. 3).