Classical Revival Intaglio depicting Penelope, 1700 CE - 1800 CE
Carnelian-Gold
FJ.6379
This intaglio is set in an 18 karat gold rin The art of glyptics, or carving on colored precious stones, is probably one of the oldest known to humanity. Intaglios,...
This intaglio is set in an 18 karat gold rin
The art of glyptics, or carving 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 BC in Mesopotamia and the Aegean Islands. They display 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 mineraIs used were too bard 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.
Penelope is synonymous with virtue, fidelity and honor. Rather than give into the endless demands of countless suitors, she pretended to weave a shroud for Laertes, Odysseus' father. At night she would unravel the work and begin again the next day. This ruse was discovered by a maid and Penelope was forced to complete the shroud. After twenty years of outsmarting her admirers she finally consented to marry the man who could string her husband's bow and perform a difficult feat of archery. The only man capable of such a challenge was Odysseus himself who had returned from the Trojan War in disguise. Penelope is seen here seated on a type of chair, or a pile of cushions. She works at her loom, with a finely incised tree in the background. The delicate carving on this intaglio is perfectly suited to a woman whose tender devotions won her respect of great writers from Homer to the present day.
The art of glyptics, or carving 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 BC in Mesopotamia and the Aegean Islands. They display 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 mineraIs used were too bard 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.
Penelope is synonymous with virtue, fidelity and honor. Rather than give into the endless demands of countless suitors, she pretended to weave a shroud for Laertes, Odysseus' father. At night she would unravel the work and begin again the next day. This ruse was discovered by a maid and Penelope was forced to complete the shroud. After twenty years of outsmarting her admirers she finally consented to marry the man who could string her husband's bow and perform a difficult feat of archery. The only man capable of such a challenge was Odysseus himself who had returned from the Trojan War in disguise. Penelope is seen here seated on a type of chair, or a pile of cushions. She works at her loom, with a finely incised tree in the background. The delicate carving on this intaglio is perfectly suited to a woman whose tender devotions won her respect of great writers from Homer to the present day.