rome

A beautiful and revealing portrait. From the first century AD, the dawn of the new era, we have this young couple who must have just begun their life together. A wedding portrait. So moving to see their differences in character. The man, with his big eyes and ears, seems young and impulsive. Full of hot blood. He clutches a scroll with a red seal, perhaps their marriage certificate. The young wife, beautiful and aristocratic, seems more temperate, sophisticated, and careful. She is literate, holding a wax writing tablet, foldable in two, and a stylus. She gazes pensively out into the distance. She is measured and thoughtful. The direction of their gazes tells us that this marriage has yet to come together. Their temperaments and characters have yet to be moulded around each other's. The giving and taking, and the writing, have only just begun.