IMITATIO AUGUSTAE: UN RITRATTO SEVERIANO DELLA COLLEZIONE TORLONIA

Abstract

The marble female bust portrait in the Torlonia Museum, known as ‘Aquilia Severa’ by antiquarian tradition, is in a good state of preservation. Its identification, however, remains purely speculative. Stylistic analysis shows modest similarities to heads of the Severan empresses, which are generally stronger in the coiffure fashion. Where they are alike is in their pleasant and harmonious treatment of their subjects, which makes significant use of geometric shape, according to the linguistic code of the time, which has then been adapted to represent a private domina. The suggestion that the sculpted portrait’s provenance can be identified with Tor Sapienza, near Rome, unfortunately remains hypothetical.