A ROMAN MARBLE PORTRAIT HEAD OF A WOMAN, SEVERAN, 1ST QUARTER OF THE 3RD CENTURY A.D., ON 17TH CENTURY MARBLE AND ONYX SHOULDERS | A Roman Marble Portrait Head of a Woman

her eyes with incised irises and drilled crescentic pupils beneath incised eyebrows meeting in the middle, her hair brushed back in seven overlapping rows, braided into seven strands, and coiled into a broad plait fastened on top of the head; tip of nose and area beneath chin and left lower jaw restored.

European private collection, circa 17th Century (based on restoration technniques and style)
de Beauvau family collection
Prince Marc de Beauvau-Craon (1921-1982), by descent, and his wife Princess Laure de Beauvau-Craon (1942-2017)

This under-lifesize portrait head has a lifesize replica in Rome: A. Giuliano, ed., Museo Nazionale Romano. Le sculture, vol. I.9, 1988, pp. 357ff., no. R272; C. Gasparri and R. Paris, ed., Palazzo Massimo alle Terme. Le collezioni, 2013, p. 365, no. 265; http://arachne.uni-koeln.de/item/objekt/17278. The head in Rome was discussed as a possible portrait of Plautilla, wife of emperor Caracalla (reigned 211–17 AD). For small-scale roman portraiture see K. Dahmen, Untersuchungen zu Form und Funktion kleinformatiger Porträts der römischen Kaiserzeit, 2001.