Distinctive and easily recognizable, the marble heads of Sabina capture an image of a stately and comely matron. The wide-set eyes, the sharp nose, fuller lower face, and delicate mouth characterize her portraits, creating a resemblance among a series of portrait heads and, possibly, with Sabina herself. Eve D’Ambra (2020)
Portrait of Sabina from Ostia, c. AD 117-118, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen
Portrait of Sabina dated to c. 128 AD, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen
Bust of Sabina found on the Via Appia, 134-136 AD, Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Rome
Idealised and rejuvenated portrait of empress Sabina (wife of Hadrian) with hairstyle inspired by the imagery of the goddess Diana, c. 130 AD, Museo del Prado, Madrid
Portrait of Sabina, probably from Asia Minor (Turkey), ca. 130 AD, Altes Museum, Berlin
Portrait of Sabina found near near Vittorio Emanuele II, 136-138 A.D., Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Rome
Statue of Sabina from Perga, Antalya Museum
Sabina as Ceres, Parian marble, from the Palaestra of the Baths of Neptune, 2nd century AD, Ostia Antica, Italy
Musei Capitolini, Rome, Italy
128-138 AD, Musei Capitolini, Rome
Statue of Empress Sabina, found alongside that of her husband Hadrian in the Roman theatre, Vaison-la-Romaine
Sabina as Venus Genetrix, Ostia Antica, Italy
Portrait of Vibia Sabina (?) with a Flavian hairstyle, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
Portrait of an unknown woman identified as Vibia Sabina, the wife of Hadrian, 2nd century AD, Museo archeologico di Fiesole, Italy
Portrait of Sabina (as Artemis?), wife of Hadrian, AD 130-140, from Rome, Musei Capitolini, Rome
Relief frieze of the Parthian monument depicting the empress Sabina, deified wife of Hadrian, represented as a goddess, Ephesos Museum Vienna, Austria
Burnt head of Sabina, wife of Hadrian, from Carthage, c. 128 AD, Louvre Museum
Bust of Sabina found at the Villa Chiragan, 128-137 AD, MSR, Musée Saint-Raymond, Musée des Antiques de Toulouse
Portrait of empress Vibia Sabina found in Italica, Seville Archaeological Museum.
Portrait of Vibia Sabina, found at Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli
Relief from the Arc of Portugal (Arco di Portogallo) representing the apotheosis of Sabina. AD 136-138: Palazzo Nuovo, Capitoline Museums.
Portrait bust of Sabina, Rome, Vatican Museums
Marble portrait head of the young Vibia Sabina, from Alexandria, dated AD 100-120, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
Over-life-sized marble portrait, probably of the empress Sabina, ca. AD 121–128, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/251182
Marble portrait bust of Empress Sabina, dated AD 122-128, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
Recommended book:
Sabina Augusta – An Imperial Journey by T. Corey Brennan, Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2018.
This book concentrates on the representation of Sabina, not only in the literary sources, but also in the epigraphic, numismatic, and artistic material.
- First full-length treatment of Sabina in English
- Offers a comprehensive treatment of Sabina’s coinage (Roman and provincial), using many newly-published (and some unpublished) items
- Traces Sabina’s legacy in history up to the early modern and modern periods
