Faustina Junior As 164-169 Rome RIC 1680 Venus Mars Faustine II
Faustina Junior, As 164-169, Rome
RIC III Marcus Aurelius 1680.
Obv.: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, Bust of Faustina the Younger, draped, hair elaborately waved in nearly vertical lines and fastened in a low chignon at back of head, down cheek, curls, right.
Rev.: VENERI VICTRICI S C, Venus, half-nude, standing right, holding the right arm of Mars, standing front, head left, and holding a shield on his left arm.
9.73 g
24.7 mm
A few surviving statuary groups of this type featuring portraits of married aristocrats on the bodies of the Mars and Venus survive from the Antonine period and reflect both the popularity of the motif at the time and the desire of the well to do be portrayed in the guise of deities. This type of group is itself a combination of two famous statue types: the 4th century BC Venus of Capua and the 5th century Ares Borghese.
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