A late renaissance agate cameo set in a gold ring. Mythological scene with Hermes.

Late 16th century ...

A late renaissance agate cameo set in a gold ring. Mythological scene with Hermes.

Late 16th century (cameo).

Stone 18 x 25 mm; ring size diam. 19,5 mm; 4,55 gr.

A late Renaissance two layers cameo, later mounted in a gold ring, half broken. The scene depicts Eros, pushed by his mother Aphrodite, showing a book to a seated naked Hermes holding a caduceus (bare headed, bare footed non winged). The scene can be compared to a Krater by the Darius painter in the Boston M.F.A. Very unusually, there is a radiating sun engraved on the top right, a rare mixture of cameo and intaglio. The stone is brocken in half, with a little missing (arm of Herms). Published: Christopher Cavey, Gems and Jewels, Fact & Fable, London 1992, p. 17 (as a Roman cameo).

From the collection of engraved gems formed by His Grace Arthur Wellesley, 2nd Duke of Wellington (1807-1884), later purchased by S.J. Phillips in 1976. Published: Christopher Cavey, Gems and Jewels, Fact & Fable, London 1992, p. 17 (as a Roman cameo).