Severan Tondo

Common card · No. 399498

The Severan Tondo or Berlin Tondo is a circular wooden panel portraying the Roman emperor Septimius Severus (r. 193–211) with his wife, the augusta Julia Domna, and their two sons and co-augusti Caracalla (r. 198–217) and Geta (r. 209–211) depicting the first two generations of the imperial Severan dynasty, whose members ruled the Roman Empire in the late 2nd and early 3rd centuries. The face of Geta, one of the two brothers, has been deliberately erased in connection with his damnatio memoriae after his death in c. 212. The panel was painted during the reign of Roman Emperor Septimius Severus before c. 205 AD and measures 30.5 cm wide. The Severan Tondo is one of the few preserved examples of panel painting from classical antiquity to attest to the deliberate manipulation of a portrait for the purpose of dishonoring an individual. On the viewer's right is Septimius Severus, and to the left Julia Domna. In front of them are the boys Caracalla and Geta. All wear jeweled gold wreaths and...

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