The Collection
The American Wing Ancient Near Eastern Art Arms and Armor The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing Asian Art The Cloisters The Costume Institute Drawings and Prints Egyptian Art European Paintings European Sculpture and Decorative Arts Greek and Roman Art Islamic Art Robert Lehman Collection The Libraries Medieval Art Musical Instruments Photographs Antonio Ratti Textile Center Modern and Contemporary Art

Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.

Sestertius of Nero, showing the Temple of Janus Quirinus

64–68

Not on view

This Roman coin depicts the Temple of Janus Quirinus, a building destroyed long before the Renaissance. A representation of the coin appears in a late sixteenth-century book of commentary, illustrating a specific passage in Suetonius’s biography of Augustus. In those lines, Suetonius recounts how Augustus closed the temple’s door—a gesture symbolizing the achievement of peace. This action is illustrated in the third scene on the Augustus dish, where the emperor closes the door to a temple clearly modeled after the image on the coin.

Sestertius of Nero, showing the Temple of Janus Quirinus, Bronze, Roman — Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Title: Sestertius of Nero, showing the Temple of Janus Quirinus

Date: 64–68

Culture: Roman

Medium: Bronze

Dimensions: 25.56 g
34.5 mm

Classification: Coins

Credit Line: American Numismatic Society, New York

Accession Number: SL.8.2017.10.2

The Met

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts at The Met

The Met's comprehensive collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century.