Portraits of Septimius Severus and Julia Domna

An exploration of Roman Imperial identity and power. Saturday, August 03, 2024, 10:00 a.m. – Sunday, March 30, 2025, 5:00 p.m.

This focus exhibition, on view at the Eskenazi Museum of Art, examines the intersection of public-facing art and political propaganda during the reign of Roman Emperor Septimus Severus (193–211 CE). Severus, the Libyan-born founder of the Severan dynasty, and his Syrian-born wife, Julia Domna, used their portraits to center themselves as the rightful rulers of an increasingly complex and multicultural society.

With a selection of important coins displayed alongside the Eskenazi Museum's remarkable marble portraits of Severus and Domna, the exhibition explores themes such as military imagery, images connected to past emperors, and a campaign to keep future emperors within the family. Ideas that relate identity to place and religion are also important factors that functioned in new ways during the Severan period.

The exhibition builds on the recently published book, Imperial Colors, by Julie Van Voorhis and Mark Abbe. A video in the gallery presents an overview of this research, shedding light on how art historians and scientists discover new information about ancient objects.