The carved marble relief depicts the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (121-180 AD) and his wife, the Empress Faustina (c. 130-c. 175 AD). Marcus Aurelius succeeded Antoninus Pius as emperor in 161 and is considered the last of the 'Five Good Emperors'. He married Faustina the Younger, his cousin and step-sister, in 145. The relief once formed part of the celebrated collection assembled by the 8th Earl of Pembroke which came to be known as the Wilton Marbles, after the Earl's country seat, Wilton House, in Wiltshire. The Earl began collecting ancient sculpture seriously in 1710, and by the time of his death in 1732 he had formed one of the earliest and most important collections of its type in the country. The collection remains largely intact at Wilton, although some sales took place at Christie's in the 1960s, at which point the present relief was sold.

The 8th Earl bought from a wide variety of sources including from dealers and celebrated private collections. Among the latter, he was known to have acquired numerous pieces from the collection of Cardinal Mazarin (1602-1661). Mazarin, a diplomat, prelate and politician of Italian origin, became one of the most influential figures in French court life and European politics, serving as chief minister to both Louis XIII and Louis XIV. Mazarin was also a voracious collector of art as well as being an important patron and founded the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in 1648.

Although the present relief has always traditionally been catalogued as 'almost certainly' from the Mazarin collection, an entry from the inventory produced at the time of Mazarin's death would seem to leave little room for doubt; 'No.115: Une médaille de marbre blanc, avec deux testes en profile qui se regardant, une de Marc Aurelle et l'autre de Faustine, enchassée d'une bordure de marbre gris et posée sure une pied d'estal de marbre bresche' ('A medal of white marble, with two profiles which look at each other, one of Marcus Aurelius and the other of Faustina, embedded in a frame of grey marble and placed on a pedestal of Breche marble').

Whilst placing this frieze for public display and preparing condition reports, the number '115' was discovered, discretely carved into the pediment portion of the frame for this relief. This would appear to correspond to the inventory number of the Mazarin collection at the time of his death in 1661. Although the description in that inventory refers to the plinth as being of 'breche' marble - and therefore not the present plinth, it is possible that the plinth was changed while still in family ownership. It is also possible that the Earl of Pembroke had the plinth created and inscribed on the basis of its previous ownership. Either scenario strongly further strengthens the case for a Mazarin provenance.

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Auction Details

Tuesday 2 June 2026, 10.30am BST
Donnington Priory, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2JE

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Viewing Information:

Viewing at Dreweatts London (highlights): 16-17 Pall Mall, St James’s, London SW1Y 5LU

• Wednesday 13 May: 10am-4pm
• Thursday 14 May: 10am-4pm
• Friday 15 May: 10am-4pm
• Monday 18 May: 10am-4pm
• Tuesday 19 May: 10am-4pm
• Wednesday 20 May: 10am-7pm
• Thursday 21 May: 10am-4pm

Viewing at Dreweatts Newbury (full sale): Donnington Priory, Newbury RG14 2JE:

• Friday 29 May: 10am-4pm
• Saturday 30 May: 10am-3pm
• Sunday 31 May: 10am-3pm
• Monday 1 June: 10am-4pm

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