Aureus (Coin) Portraying Marcus Aurelius

Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium

153-154, issued by Antoninus Pius

Roman, minted in Rome

The front (obverse) of this coin portrays a bust of Marcus Aurelius facing right, bareheaded, wearing a cuirass (body armor) and paludamentum (military cloak). The back (reverse) depicts the goddess Roma-Virtus, helmeted, standing left in military garb, holding Victory and parazonium (a dagger).

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

Culture: Ancient Roman
Title: Aureus (Coin) Portraying Marcus Aurelius
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 153 CE–154 CE
Medium: Gold
Inscriptions: Obverse: AVRELIVS CAESAR AVG PII FIL Reverse: TR POT VIII COS II
Dimensions: Diam.: 2 cm (13/16 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of Martin A. Ryerson
Reference Number: 1922.4876
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/5644/manifest.json

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. 54 Aureus Portraying Marcus Aurelius: Curatorial Entry,” in Roman Art at the Art Institute of Chicago (Art Institute of Chicago, 2016).
https://publications.artic.edu/roman/reader/romanart/section/541

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.