Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: The Museum Year 2010
The Year
Acquisitions
Art of the Ancient World: July 2009–June 2010
Solidus with bust of Julian II, struck under Constantius II
A.D. 355–360
Diameter: 22 mm. Weight: 4.55 gm. Die Axis: 12
Gold
Classification: Numismatics
Culture: Roman
Mint: Sirmium
Period: Imperial Period
Accession number: 2010.37
Description: Obverse: bust of Julian II, draped and cuirassed, to the right D N IVLIANVS NOB CAESAR Reverse: Seated figures of Roma on the left and Constantinople on the right, facing each other and holding between them shield inscribed in four lines: VOT V MVLT X around: GLORIA REI PVBLICAE; in exergue: SIRM C
Provenance/Ownership History: By date unknown, Victor Adda (1885-1965) Collection, U.K., and thence by descent; by 1984, with Christie, Manson & Woods Ltd., 8 King Street, St. James's, London SW1Y 6QT, England (Auction [Important Ancient Coins: The Property of a Lady], October 10, 1985, lot 226); by 2009, with Nomos AG, Zähringerstrasse 27, Zurich, Switzerland (Auction 1, The Widder Hotel, Rennweg 7, Zurich, Switzerland, May 6, 2009, lot 172); 2009, Freeman & Sear (Manhattan Sale 1, Waldorf Astoria Hotel, 301 Park Avenue, New York, NY, January 5, 2010, lot 451); purchased at Manhattan Sale 1 on behalf of MFA by Harlan J. Berk, Ltd., 31 North Clark Street, Chicago, Illinois 60602; 2010, sold by Berk to the MFA. (Accession date: February 24, 2010)
Theodora Wilbour Fund in memory of Zoë Wilbour