This intaglio is set in an 18 karat gold rin
The art of glyptics, or carving images on colored precious stones, is probably one of the oldest known to humanity. Intaglios, gems with an incised design, were made as early as the fourth and third millennia B.C. in Mesopotamia and the Aegean Islands. They exhibit a virtuosity of execution that suggests an old and stable tradition rooted in the earliest centuries. The tools required for carving gems were simple: a wheel with a belt-drive and a set of drills. Abrasives were necessary since the minerals used were too hard for a metal edge. A special difficulty of engraving intaglios, aside from their miniature size, was that the master had to work with a mirror-image in mind.
Though Imperial Rome had its share of nefarious women, there were also many very fine ladies who graced the royal court. Plotina, wife of the emperor Trajan was famed for her simplicity, dignity and virtue. Septimius Severus' wife Julia Domna was admired for her intelligence, just as the empress Helena for her piety. Of this noble c1ass the lady on this fine intaglio may have belonged. Her profile shows her as a strong and self-willed individual, wearing a c1oak and laurel wreath. The superb engraving reveals remarkable details such as her hairstyle and even the expression in her eyes. Through art, and art as a medium of luxury, we come face to face with the image of a woman who once took part in ruling the Western world.