Cameo With a Portrait Bust of Faustina the Younger

CultureRoman

PeriodAntonine

Dateca. 151 CE

MediumMicrocrystalline quartz, var. agate (banded); gold (19th-Century)

Credit LineCarlos Collection of Ancient Art

Dimensions1 1/8 x 1 5/8 in. (2.9 x 4.1 cm)

Object number2003.041.001

Label TextThough not named, several features of this portrait identify the woman as Faustina the Younger (120-175 CE), daughter of emperor Antoninus Pius (86-161 CE) and Faustina the Elder (d. 141 CE), and wife of emperor Marcus Aurelius (121-180 CE). Most characteristic is her hair, which is centrally parted and divided into a section of waves at the front that frame the face and cover the top of the ears while the rest is pulled back from the brow and the whole gathered in a braided chignon at the back of head. This arrangement is close to portraits of Faustina produced ca. 145-161 CE and widely replicated on coins and in sculpture, as on an aureus of Antoninus Pius now in New York (American Numismatic Society inv. 1956.184.56). The anonymous engraver of this cameo has successfully exploited the differently colored layers of the banded agate to give Faustina realistic, three-dimensional presence, offsetting the creamy white of her flesh against the translucent grey of the background, and using layers of darker brown stone for drapery and hair, and lighter brown to introduce a gentle flush to her cheek and neck. Such a large, finely carved cameo was likely given as an imperial gift.
Exhibition HistoryMCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, September 2004 - August 1, 2013
Exuberance of Meaning: The Art Patronage of Catherine the Great (1762-1796), Georgia Museum of Art, Athens, Georgia, September 21, 2013 - January 5, 2014
Making an Impression: The Art and Craft of Ancient Engraved Gemstones, Michael C. Carlos Museum, August 27 - November 27, 2022
Published ReferencesLaurent Natter, Catalogue des Pierres Gravees de Comte de Bessborough (London: J. Haberkorn, 1761), 3-4, number VIII.
Gemmarum antiquarum delectus ex praestantioribus desumptus, quae in dactyliothecus ducis Marlburiensis conservantur (London, 1791), number 32.
Christie, Manson, and Woods, London, Catalogue of the Marlborough Gems, being a Collection of Works in Cameo and Intaglio formed by George, 3rd Duke of Marlborough (June 28 - July 1, 1875), 73, lot 475.
Christie, Manson, and Woods, London, Catalogue of the Marlborough Gems, being a Collection of Works in Cameo and Intaglio formed by George, 3rd Duke of Marlborough (June 26, 1899), 83, lot 475.
Oliver Forge and Brendan Lynch Ltd. Advert, The Burlington Magazine (May 2003).
MCCM Newsletter, September - November 2003.
MCCM Newsletter, September - October 2004.
Jasper Gaunt, "New Galleries of Greek & Roman Art at Emory University: The Michael C. Carlos Museum," Minerva 16 (January/February 2005): 13-17.
John Boardman, et al., The Marlborough Gems formerly at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), number 380.
Michael C. Carlos Museum: Highlights of the Collections (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2011), 58-59.
Asen Kirin, Exuberance of Meaning: The Art Patronage of Catherine the Great (1762-1796) (Georgia: Georgia Museum of Art, 2013), 190, number 45.

ProvenanceEx coll. William Ponsonby (1704-1793), Second Earl of Bessborough. Ex coll. George Spencer (1739-1817), Fourth Duke of Marlborough. Thence by descent to John Winston Spencer-Churchill (1822-1883), Seventh Duke of Marlborough. Ex coll. David Bromilow (1809-1898), Leicestershire, England, purchased from Christie, Manson, and Woods, London, June 30, 1875. Thence by descent to Julia Harriet Mary Jary, England, 1898-1899. Ex coll. Harding, purchased from Christie, Manson, and Woods, London, June 26, 1899, lot 475. Ex coll. T.B. Clarke, Chicago, Illinois. Ex coll. Ralph O. Esmerian (born 1940), New York, New York. With Phillips, London. With Richard Trescott (1941-2018), London, England, by Summer 2001. Purchased by MCCM from private collection, New York, New York.

Status

Not on view

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