Head of a woman with hairstyle of Empress Julia Domna

This tiny ivory head with delicately carved, lidded eyes and bow-shaped lips wears the fashionable coiffeur of the third-century Roman empress Julia Domna. She is not a portrait, however, but an example of the popular imagery that grew out of the Empress’ unique style. The head once connected to a long, loosely-jointed body—a doll that was fingered and gripped by a Roman girl whom she ultimately accompanied to the grave. With fully developed hips and breasts and an imperial crown of hair, the miniature woman served as a role model for the child to emulate and animate in life and in death.