CNG 87, Lot: 909. Estimate $500. Sold for $2000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

EGYPT, Alexandria. Marcus Aurelius. As Caesar, AD 139-161. Æ Drachm (34mm, 23.71 g, 12h). Dated RY 12 of Antoninus Pius (AD 148/9). Bareheaded, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Isis seated right, nursing Harpocrates; oinochoe atop short coulmn to right; all within distyle temple façade with uraeus in pediment; L in exergue, ΔωΔЄ-KATOV (date) around. Köln 1914 var. (without oinochoe on column); Dattari (Savio) 3217; K&G 37.21 var. (same). Good VF, brown patina with green deposits.

From the HLT Collection.

It is generally recognized that the iconography of Isis nursing Harpocrates influenced Christian representations of the Madonna and Child, particularly the Virgo lactans type popular in Medieval Europe.