Marble portrait of Matidia Minor

Unknown

ca. 138–161 CE · Marble · Greek and Roman Art

This head originally belonged to an honorary portrait statue of Mindia Matidia, or Matidia Minor (A.D. 85–162), half-sister of Sabina, wife of the emperor Hadrian, and aunt of the emperor Antoninus Pius. There exist five other replicas of this portrait type, recognized by a recently discovered statue of Matidia Minor from the Roman theater at Suessa Aurunca, a Campanian town of which she was a major benefactor. As is common with members of the imperial family, she is portrayed with an idealized, youthful face, and styling a complex coiffure that includes a hairpiece in the shape of braids coiled on top of her head. Her upward gaze is characteristic of many portraits from the Antonine period onward.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 138–161 CE

Medium

Marble

Culture

Roman

Department

Greek and Roman Art

Credit line

Rogers Fund, 1921