Julia Domna was the wife of the Emperor Septimius Severus (A.D. 193–211) and the mother of Caracalla (A.D. 211–217) and his ill-fated younger brother Geta (A.D. 211–212). The empress came from Syria and introduced a distinct eastern influence into the Roman ruling elite. It was largely through her Syrian relatives that the Severan dynasty was able to continue in power until A.D. 235. Her portrait was widely copied and distributed as part of the propaganda campaign of her ambitious family.
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Title:Beryl intaglio with portrait of Julia Domna
Period:Mid-Imperial, Severan
Date:ca. 200–210 CE
Culture:Roman
Medium:Beryl
Dimensions:H. 15/16 in. (2.4 cm)
Classification:Gems
Credit Line:Fletcher Fund, 1925
Accession Number:25.78.90
1895. Pierres gravées des collections Marlborough et d'Orléans, des recueils d'Eckhel, Gori, Lévesque de Gravelle, Mariette, Millin, Stosch. no. 24, p. 114, pl. 110.
1899. Catalogue of the Marlborough Gems : being a collection of works in cameo and intaglio, formed by George, 3rd [i.e. 4th] duke of Marlborough, purchased by the late David Bromilow, of Bitteswell Hall, Lutterworth : the property of Mrs. Jary: which will be. no. 484, p. 85.
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1926. "Miscellaneous Accessions in the Classical Department." Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 21(12), part 1: p. 286.
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1948. Roman Portraits, 2nd edn. no. 1021, p. vi, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1956[1920]. Catalogue of Engraved Gems of the Classical Style: Greek Etruscan, and Roman. no. 498, pp. 108–9, pl. 60, Rome: L'Erma di Bretschneider.
Vollenweider, Marie-Louise. 1974. "Un portrait de Faustine II œuvre du maître." Genava : revue d'histoire de l'art et d'archéologie, 22: pp. 168, 273, fig. 10.
Vollenweider, Marie-Louise. 1979. Catalogue raisonné des sceaux, cylindres, intailles et camées, II. pp. 228–29 n. 8, 251 n. 1, Geneva: Musée d'Art et d'Histoire, Musées d'Art et d'Histoire de Genève.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1987. Greece and Rome. no. 110, p. 142, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Zwierlein-Diehl, Erika. 1994. "Die Kunstsammlung des Paulus Praun." Die Gemmensammlungen des Paulus II. Praun. pp. 82–83, Nuremberg.
Richter, Gisela M. A. 2006[1920]. Catalogue of Engraved Gems of the Classical Style: Greek Etruscan, and Roman, 2nd edn. no. 498, pp. 108–9, pl. 60, color pl. 18, Rome: L'Erma di Bretschneider.
Boardman, John. 2009. The Marlborough Gems : formerly at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire. no. 462, p. 204, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Zanker, Paul, Seán Hemingway, Christopher S. Lightfoot, and Joan R. Mertens. 2019. Roman Art : A Guide through the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Collection. pp. 191, 383–84, figs. 91, 158, New York: Scala Publishers.
Sinkankas, John. Emerald and Other Beryls. p. 107, fig. 4–1, Prescott, AZ: Geosciences.
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The Museum's collection of Greek and Roman art comprises more than 30,000 works ranging in date from the Neolithic period to the time of the Roman emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity in A.D. 312.
