Lot 201 | A LATE IMPERIAL ROMAN GARNET INTAGLIO. BUST OF AN EMPRESS.

Bertolami Fine Art - Piazza Lovatelli 1, 00186 Roma

A LATE IMPERIAL ROMAN GARNET INTAGLIO. BUST OF AN EMPRESS.

A LATE IMPERIAL ROMAN GARNET INTAGLIO. BUST OF AN EMPRESS.

4th century A.D.

13x17x2 mm

The portrait is facing left. She is characterized by elaborate hair, with a group of braids that goes down the nape of the neck going up to the ear; the other hair is pulled back and held by a diadem with pearls. The woman wears double pearl earrings and a precious pearl necklace. The bust is tunicated. The profile shows a straight and prominent nose, a small mouth, a small and rounded chin, a large eye. The anatomical details of the face and hair are certainly referable to a portrait of an empress of the late Roman period. The technical execution is very refined. The portrait is executed with great art, worthy of a commission from the imperial family. Even the choice of stone, a splendid, very thin garnet, with a concave back, can be attributed to a top-level atelier. Wear marks. The portrait approaches the effigies of Theodora. The empress Flavia Maximiana Theodora (c. 275 – before 337) had been married to the emperor Constantius I ‘Chlorus’ (A.D. 305-306). Her coin portraits become more elaborate over time, with the bust adorned with a necklace and a more elaborate hairstyle. A certain resemblance is also recognizable with the portraits of Fausta, the ill-fated wife of Constantine I 'the Great' (A.D. 307-337), and of Flavia Julia Helena Augusta (c. AD 246/248– c. 330) mother of Emperor Constantine the Great.

Provenance: U.K. private collection acquired on the british art market.