Portrait Head, Perhaps of Otacilia Severa

Description This may be a portrait of Otacilia Severa, wife of Emperor Philip the Arab (reigned 244-249 CE), or of a private citizen influenced by Otacilia's public images. Her tranquil, idealized appearance is typical of mid 3rd-century statuary, and although she is depicted as a mature matron, her forehead and cheeks are smooth, without the deep lines of concern that characterize male portraits of the period.

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
	Treatment	cleaned
6/21/1961	Treatment	cleaned
7/20/1970	Treatment	cleaned
1/01/1992	Technical Report	x-ray diffraction; other
2/04/1999	Treatment	cleaned
5/03/2001	Treatment	repaired

Provenance Don Marcello Massarenti Collection, Rome, by 1894 [mode of acquisition unknown] [marble no. 22]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1902, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters with the Massarenti Collection, 1902