Denarius (Coin) Portraying Emperor Gaius (Caligula) (37-38): Artwork and History

Denarius (Coin) Portraying Emperor Gaius (Caligula) (37-38) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as Roman.

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

The front of this coin portrays the Roman Emperor Gaius (Caligula), facing to the right. An inscription that begins in the lower right edge and moves around the outward edge of the coin reads: C.CAESAR.AVG.GERM.P.M.TR.POT. The back of this coins portrays the head of Germanicus, facing to the right. An inscription that begins in the lower right edge and moves around the outward edge of the coin reads: GERMANICVS.CAES.P.C.CAES.AVG.GERM.

Object facts

• Title: Denarius (Coin) Portraying Emperor Gaius (Caligula)
• Date: 37-38
• Artist attribution: Roman
• Place of origin: Lyon
• Medium: Silver
• Dimensions: Diam.: 1.9 cm (3/4 in.)
• Type: Coin
• Department: Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium
• Reference number: 1922.4859

Collection credit

Gift of Martin A. Ryerson

View the original

Explore the artwork in the Art Institute's collection, including its image and the museum's current catalogue details.

The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.