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Message:: [QUOTE="Kasia, post: 26179604, member: 31533"]That's a gorgeous Faustina! I will go for this, so here is my entry. Yes, the portrait can look stern. Or perhaps not stern, but simply not exactly showing warmth. Evidently she was married to her husband for about 25 or more years and they were a good match, as I read that Antonius Pius held her in high regard for memory for the remaining 20 years of his life. And the only daughter that would survive her (out of four children, 2 boys, 2 girls) who is known as Faustina the Younger (though they both have 'first names of Annie Galeria'), also was evidently held in high regard by her husband also. I couldn't find any definite reason for this Faustina's death, and it seems that historically, it is put down to probably natural causes, which could range from disease progression (perhaps TB or something) to a faster contagion like typhoid fever or something else equally bad. No way of knowing, but life was difficult for many women in older times, so while a number of women did make it into their 60s or more, many did not. In any case, I do think the structure of her portrait and neckline as done here is very nice and pleasant to look at.[/QUOTE]