Antonia Minor
Bust portrait of Antonia Minor (January 36 BC - 37 AD).
She was the younger of two daughters of Mark Antony and Octavia, the sister of Augustus.
In 17 AD, she married Nero Claudius Drusus, or Drusus the elder, brother of Tiberius and son of the first marriage of Livia, the wife of Augustus.
From this marriage three children were born: Claudia Livilla, Claudius, the future Roman Emperor, Germanicus, designed by Augustus as his successor. For the Julio-Claudian dynasty family tree see the item Stemma Drusorum
Antonia minor was a woman of rare beauty and great virtue (Plutarch). She died in 37 AD to the time of Caligula, and, according to Suetonius’ accounts, she received “post mortem” from his son, the emperor Claudius, the title of Augusta.
Here Antonia is portrayed in the guise of Venus and the bust is considered an idealized posthumous work: during Claudius’ principate, in fact, the imperial propaganda assimilated Antonia to the goddess "Venus Genetrix", the legendary founder of the Julio-Claudian dynasty.
Marble bust portrait
Roman Sculpture
1st half of 1st Cent. Ad
Legato Giovanni Grimaldi
Venice, National Archaeological Museum
Antonia Minor
Bust portrait of Antonia Minor (January 36 BC - 37 AD).
She was the younger of two daughters of Mark Antony and Octavia, the sister of Augustus.
In 17 AD, she married Nero Claudius Drusus, or Drusus the elder, brother of Tiberius and son of the first marriage of Livia, the wife of Augustus.
From this marriage three children were born: Claudia Livilla, Claudius, the future Roman Emperor, Germanicus, designed by Augustus as his successor. For the Julio-Claudian dynasty family tree see the item Stemma Drusorum
Antonia minor was a woman of rare beauty and great virtue (Plutarch). She died in 37 AD to the time of Caligula, and, according to Suetonius’ accounts, she received “post mortem” from his son, the emperor Claudius, the title of Augusta.
Here Antonia is portrayed in the guise of Venus and the bust is considered an idealized posthumous work: during Claudius’ principate, in fact, the imperial propaganda assimilated Antonia to the goddess "Venus Genetrix", the legendary founder of the Julio-Claudian dynasty.
Marble bust portrait
Roman Sculpture
1st half of 1st Cent. Ad
Legato Giovanni Grimaldi
Venice, National Archaeological Museum