Jugate heads of Marcus Aurelius (Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, 121–180) and Faustina (Anna Galeria Faustina, d. 175 or 176)

Unknown

probably 17th century · Onyx, gold mount · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Subjects from Roman history preoccupied collectors in the Baroque era. The twinned countenances of these famous couples, mounted as pendants, were in the Arundel collection in the seventeenth century and the Marlborough collection in the eighteenth. As is often the case with portrait cameos, the stones were manipulated so that their warmer gradations further a suggestion of flesh.

Artist

Unknown

Date

probably 17th century

Medium

Onyx, gold mount

Culture

Italian

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

The Milton Weil Collection, 1939