Denarius (Coin) Portraying Julia Mamaea

Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium

231-235, issued by Severus Alexander

Roman, minted in Antioch, Syria

The front (obverse) of this coin portrays the bust of Julia Mamaea, the mother of Roman Emperor Alexander Severus, facing to the right, draped, and diademed. On the back (reverse), the goddess Venus stands front, head left, helmet in right hand, spear in left, shield resting against her leg.

Coins recorded the ever-changing hairdos of the royal ladies in Rome and carried the new fashions to the far corners of the empire.

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

Culture: Ancient Roman
Title: Denarius (Coin) Portraying Julia Mamaea
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.: 231 CE–235 CE
Medium: Silver
Inscriptions: Obverse: IVLIA MAMAEA AVG Reverse: VENVS VICTRIX "Venus Victorious"
Dimensions: Diam.: 1.9 cm (3/4 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of Martin A. Ryerson
Reference Number: 1922.4889
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/5681/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. 57.
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. 63 Denarius Portraying Julia Mamaea: Curatorial Entry,” in Roman Art at the Art Institute of Chicago (Art Institute of Chicago, 2016).
https://publications.artic.edu/roman/reader/romanart/section/550
Theresa Gross-Diaz, “Cat. 66 Aureus Portraying Gordian III: Curatorial Entry,” in Roman Art at the Art Institute of Chicago (Art Institute of Chicago, 2016), para 2.

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.