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Pair of Antique Yellow Marble Profiles Roman Empresses 17th Century

circa 1630s

$9,484.77
£7,098.32
€8,000
CA$13,085.06
A$14,551.13
CHF 7,642.57
MX$177,902.16
NOK 95,233.72
SEK 89,779.68
DKK 60,899.97

About the Item

Pair of early 17th-century medallion profiles in antique yellow marble and onyx Pair of medallions depicting Agrippina and Faustina, Rome, 17th century. Rare and important ancient yellow veined marble reliefs from Numidia applied on striped alabaster from Villa Palombara-Rome. The portrayal, inspired by antiquity, is to be placed in that profane and celebratory production of classical figures and allegorical of their virtues, linked to the cultured and refined collecting that flourished in Renaissance humanistic culture and was also widespread in the Baroque period. In ancient Rome that of portraiture was a true cult expressed through marble busts and medallions, displayed in series in family galleries, juxtaposing ancestors with younger members to perpetuate family memory and virtues. Their extremely fine workmanship, small size, fine materials, and extreme quality place them at the dawn of the 17th century, very close to Renaissance productions. On the back an old inscription designates them as the portraits of Agrippina Major and Faustina. Agrippina Major, daughter of Emperor Augustus and wife of Germanicus, by whom she had Caligula, was a Roman noblewoman, belonging to the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Annia Galeria Faustina, better known as Faustina minor, was a Roman empress, wife of Emperor Marcus Aurelius and mother of Commodus. Villa Palombara alabaster is a flowering alabaster whose name comes from some findings made in the archaeological excavations at Villa Palombara, near Rome. The ancient yellow marble of Numidia, used in Roman times, came from quarries in the ancient city of Simitthus, now Tunisia; exported to Italy, it was widely used for wall coverings, colonnades and floors. The quarries were exhausted around the 3rd century, so much so that later artifacts were made from materials recovered from the ruins.
  • Creation Year:
    circa 1630s
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 4.73 in (12 cm)Width: 3.55 in (9 cm)Depth: 0.4 in (1 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
    Early 17th Century
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Pistoia, IT
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU2746215608492

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