Portrait of Julia Domna

Description Julia Domna, born in Syria as a daughter of a priest of the sun god Elagabalus, was the wife of Emperor Septimius Severus (reigned 193-211 CE). The smooth uninterrupted expanses of her face, the heavily lidded eyes with the pupils created by two overlapping, spherical cavities, and the detailed incisions of the hair are distinctive of this period.

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
1/23/1978	Treatment	cleaned
1/01/1992	Technical Report	x-ray diffraction; other
5/24/2001	Treatment	cleaned

Exhibitions

• World of Wonder. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1971-1972.
• In Search of Ancient Treasure: 40 Years of Collecting. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1978.

Provenance Carducci collection, Rome, [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Joseph Brummer, New York and Paris, 1929, by purchase [Brummer inv. no. P6549]; Joseph Brummer Sale, New York, June 9, 1949, no. 459; Walters Art Museum, 1949, by purchase.

Credit Museum purchase, 1949