Aureus (Coin) Portraying Empress Faustina the Elder

Arts of the Ancient Mediterranean and Byzantium

141-161, issued by Antoninus Pius

Roman, minted in Rome

The front (obverse) of this coin portrays the empress Faustina, wearing a veil and a diadem on her head.

On the back (reverse), the goddess Aeternitas (Eternity) is also depicted veiled. She holds a shallow dish called a patera in her right hand and a rudder in her left.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Arts of the Ancient Mediterranean and Byzantium

Culture: Ancient Roman
Title: Aureus (Coin) Portraying Empress Faustina the Elder
Place: Roman Empire (Minted in)
Date: Struck 141 CE–161 CE
Medium: Gold
Inscriptions: Obverse: DIVA FAVSTINA Reverse: AETERNITAS
Dimensions: Diam.: 2 cm (13/16 in.)
Credit Line: William A. and Renda H. Lederer Endowment; Mr. and Mrs. Walter Alexander and David Earle III funds; purchased with funds provided by the Classical Art Society
Reference Number: 2004.145
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/182872/manifest.json

Karen Manchester, Recasting the Past: Collecting and Presenting Antiquities at the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago; New York: Yale University Press, 2012), p. 96 (fig. 22.1).
Numismatica Ars Classica NAC AG, Zurich, auction 27, sale cat. (Numismatica Ars Classica NAC AG, Zurich, May 12, 2004), lot 412 (ill.)
Art Institute of Chicago, Annual Report: 2003-04 (Art Institute of Chicago, 2004), p. 33.
Theresa Gross-Diaz, “Cat. 52 Aureus Portraying Faustina the Elder: Curatorial Entry,” in Roman Art at the Art Institute of Chicago (Art Institute of Chicago, 2016).
https://publications.artic.edu/roman/reader/romanart/section/539

Sold, Numismatica Ars Classica AG, May 12, 2004, lot 412, to Harlan Berk, Chicago, IL; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 2004.

Cat. 52 Aureus (Coin) Portraying Empress Faustina the Elder, A.D. 141/61

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