How does this artwork elucidate its Description?
The work is a tempera, or egg-based painting, on a circular wooden panel, or tondo, with a diameter of 30.5 centimetres (12.0 in). It depicts the Imperial family wearing sumptuous ceremonial garments. Septimius Severus and his sons are also holding sceptres and wearing gold wreaths decorated with precious stones.  Julia Domna has her distinctive hairstyle, crimped into parallel locks, possibly a style from her home in Syria, and perhaps a wig. Although it is commonly assumed that Julia Domna introduced the custom of wearing wigs into Roman society, evidence points to a predecessor introducing use of wigs in portraiture. Although the portrait depicts Julia as being notably paler than Severus, the subjects' true complexions are probably not accurately represented, as artistic conventions of the era often depicted women with fairer skin and men with darker skin.One son's face has been obliterated in a deliberate act of iconoclasm, and the vacant space smeared with excrement. Most scholars believe it is Geta whose face has been removed, probably after his murder by Caracalla's Praetorian Guard and the ensuing damnatio memoriae. However, it is also possible that Geta (as the younger son) is the smaller boy, and it is Caracalla's face which was eradicated, perhaps as a compensatory retaliation for Caracalla's mass execution of young Alexandrian men in the year 215.The tondo was probably created in a square or rectangular shape, and later cut into a circle. The loss of some of the original painting is most apparent with the sceptres that the males are holding: the upper parts, once adorned with imperial symbols, are now missing. It seems likely that the panel was cut down in modern times to improve its saleability on the art market.
Septimius Severus Praetorian Guard Geta tempera damnatio memoriae tondo Julia Domna iconoclasm sceptre Caracalla Syria