A ROMAN MARBLE PORTRAIT BUST OF JULIA MAESA

CIRCA EARLY 3RD CENTURY A.D.

细节

A ROMAN MARBLE PORTRAIT BUST OF JULIA MAESA
circa early 3rd century a.d.
Sculpted late in her life, her head turned slightly to her right, her hair arranged in a so-called helmfrisur which is center-parted and combed in undulating rows, completely covering her ears, a coiled plait at the back of the head, with drilled, short curls framing her forehead, her almond-shaped eyes with heavy upper lids, the irises incised, the pupils drilled, the flesh sagging below her eyes, with a small rounded nose and small lips, the upper protruding more than the lower, with a rounded chin and pronounced double chin, wearing a palia (cloak) wound over her shoulders, forming curving horizontal folds distinct from the vertical folds of the stola (tunic) underneath, on an integral pedestal
14 in. (37.5 cm.) high

拍品专文

Julia Maesa was the daughter of Julius Bassianus and sister of the empress Julia Domna. After the death of Caracalla at the hands of the Praefect Macrinus, Maesa was determined to reestablish the Severan Dynasty. Her grandson Elagabalus became emperor in part due to Maesa's claim that he was the son of Caracalla through her daughter Julia Soaemias Bassiana. The young emperor was the hereditary priest of the Syrian sun god Elah-Gabal, after whom he was named. As he proved to be an ineffectual ruler, Maesa convinced him to adopt his cousin Alexander Severus (son of Maesa's younger daughter Julia Mammaea). Following the murder of Elagabalus and his mother in 222 A.D a result of a plot arranged by Julia Mammaea, the young Alexander Severus was elevated to emperor. Julia Maesa was influential during the reigns of both her grandsons until her death in 226 A.D. She was given the titles of Augusta and "mater castorum et senatus."