Nero and the Dying Seneca

A cast bronze medal showing a seated man in Roman dress beside a palm tree, while a nude man stands in a large basin on the right. The inscription NERO AVG runs along the lower edge, with the letters S and C flanking the scene.

Look closer: The letters S and C sit in the field on either side of the scene, abbreviating the Senate's authority on Roman coins.

Artist

Master of the Roman Emperors

Date

ca. 1445

Medium

Bronze

Source

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Size

3811 × 3049 px

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Erich Lederer Collection, Gift of Mrs. Erich Lederer, 1986