Cameo with Livia holding a bust of Augustus (?)

People living in Rome, as well as in cities and towns throughout the empire, constantly encountered images of their emperors. A likeness of the reigning ruler was a fixture in virtually every public space-from places of assembly and business to baths, theaters, and temples. The succession of a new emperor to the throne might require thousands of portraits to be made quickly. The need to mass-produce imperial images gave rise to the creation of officially sanctioned "portrait types" with distinctive hairstyles and facial features, which were disseminated to serve as models for sculptors to generate additional replicas. A marble head of Augustus, Rome's first emperor (reigned 27 B.C.-A.D. 14), wears a hairstyle with a row of comma-shaped locks all brushed to one side over the forehead; this coiffure is the primary characteristic of the "Forbes type," named after the donor of the piece. Probably set upon a life-size statue in a public place, this portrait of Augustus, ever youthful and imbued with a calm intensity, would have impressed all who came into its orbit with a sense of the emperor's commanding presence and authority. Imperial portraits were also made on a more intimate scale, sometimes from precious or exotic materials, for private display and devotion. Although fragmentary, a unique cameo, carved of turquoise, is widely thought to portray Livia, the wife of Augustus-named priestess of her deified husband after his death-gazing down at a small bust-length sculpted portrait of him. In much the same way, the owner of this precious gem, whose intricate workmanship and lavish material suggest it might have been made for a member of the imperial court, must have looked with highest regard on the figures of the divine emperor and the first lady of Rome.