Aureus (Coin) Portraying Empress Sabina

Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium

134, issued by Hadrian

Roman, minted in Rome

The arranged marriage between Hadrian (76–138; reigned 117–138) and Sabina (83–136/37), who is portrayed
on this gold coin, took place around 100, but ancient writers reported that it was not a loving relationship. They were childless, and although Hadrian granted Sabina many of the honors usually accorded to an empress, he did not mint coins with her portrait until much later in his reign, around 128.

The front (obverse) of this coin portrays the bust of Sabina, draped, wearing a diadem; her hair is waved up in a crest. The back (reverse) depicts the goddess Juno standing to the left, veiled, with a patera in her right hand extended over a peacock, her left hand rests on a scepter.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium

Culture: Ancient Roman
Title: Aureus (Coin) Portraying Empress Sabina
Place: Rome (Minted in:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: Struck 134 CE
Medium: Gold
Inscriptions: Obverse: SABINA AVGVSTA Reverse: IVNONI REGINAE
Dimensions: Diam.: 1.9 cm (3/4 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of Martin A. Ryerson
Reference Number: 1922.4873
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/5638/manifest.json

Karen B. Alexander and Mary Greuel. Private Taste in Ancient Rome: Selections from Chicago Collections. Exh. cat. (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1990), cat. 54.
Karen B. Alexander, “From Plaster to Stone: Ancient Art at the Art Institute of Chicago,” in Karen Manchester, Recasting the Past: Collecting and Presenting Antiquities at the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012), p. 29.
Theresa Gross-Diaz, “Cat. 51 Aureus Portraying Sabina: Curatorial Entry,” in Roman Art at the Art Institute of Chicago (Art Institute of Chicago, 2016).
https://publications.artic.edu/roman/reader/romanart/section/538

The Art Institute of Chicago, Of Gods and Glamour: The Mary and Michael Jaharis Galleries of Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Art, Gallery 152, November 11, 2012-present. (Added July 2013)
The Art Institute of Chicago, A Portrait of Antinous, in Two Parts, Gallery 154, April 2 - September 5, 2016.

Martin A. Ryerson (1856-1932), Chicago; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1922.

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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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.

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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.