“With flowing locks”. The recovery and rediscovery of a female portrait from the Antonine period at Villa Adriana (Tivoli)

Authors

  • Elena Calandra University of Pavia image/svg+xml
  • Lucilla D’Alessandro Istituto Villa Adriana e Villa d’Este

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54103/2035-4797/32860

Keywords:

Lucilla; Lucius Verus; Commodus; Aurelia; Fadilla; Cornificia; Herodes Atticus

Abstract

This paper presents a study of a previously unpublished portrait from Villa Adriana, recorded in 1960 amongst the works in the Villa, stolen in 1984, recovered by the Comando Carabinieri per la Tutela del Patrimonio Culturale, and now held in the storage attached to the Mouseia – Antiquarium del Canopo. The work is dated to around 180 AD; traditionally attributed to Lucilla, wife of Lucius Verus, it actually depicts not the Augusta, but probably another member of the imperial family, perhaps her daughter by Lucius Verus, Aurelia, or one of Lucilla’s sisters, possibly Cornificia.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

  • Elena Calandra, University of Pavia

    Elena Calandra is full professor at the University of Pavia, of classical archaeology at the University of Pavia, where she teaches Classical Archaeology and archaeological research methodology and serves as Director of the Museum of Archaeology. Already archeological officer in Ligury, since 2009 she has been inspector executive  at the General Secretariat, Superintendent in Lombardia, Umbria, Latium (with Villa Adriana) and Calabria, Director of the National Etruscan Museum of Villa Giulia, Director of the Archaeological Service and of the Ethnoanthropological and Intangible heritage Service. As Director of the Central Institute for Archaeology, he created, among other things, the National Geoportal for Archaeology, and has taught at the Universities of Bologna, Rome Sapienza, Turin, and at the Italian Archaeological School in Athens, where he still teaches. Degree at the Pavia University, Ghislieri College, master at the Bologna University, Ph.D. at Rome, La Sapienza, post-doctoral fellowship at the Pavia University. International experiences: American Academy in Rome (Fulbright fellow), Zürich University, Mainz University, German Archaeological Institut in Rome (Henkel fellow), Italian Archaeological School at Athens.

  • Lucilla D’Alessandro , Istituto Villa Adriana e Villa d’Este

    Lucilla D'Alessandro, who has been in the Ministry of Culture since 1999, is currently an Archaeologist at the Istituto Villa Adriana e Villa d'Este, where she is responsible for the Collections and Loans Office. She deals in particular with instrumentum inscriptum, ancient ceramics and Roman amphorae, as well as the accessibility of the heritage.

Downloads

Published

2026-09-28

Issue

No. 34 (2026)

Section

ARTICLES

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Elena Calandra, Lucilla D’Alessandro

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

“With flowing locks”. The recovery and rediscovery of a female portrait from the Antonine period at Villa Adriana (Tivoli). (2026). LANX. Journal of the Scuola Di Specializzazione in Beni Archeologici - Università Degli Studi Di Milano, 34, 61-73. https://doi.org/10.54103/2035-4797/32860