White Gold Ring Featuring a Hellenistic Carnelian Intaglio of a Youthful Deity, 400 BCE - 100 CE
Carnelian and Gold
FJ.6828
This Genuine Ancient Seal Has Been Mounted in a Modern 18 Karat White Gold Rin The art of glyptics, or carving images on colored precious stones, is probably one of...
This Genuine Ancient Seal Has Been Mounted in a Modern 18 Karat White 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.
A representation of a youthful deity has been engraved onto the polished surface of this precious gemstone. His confident expression and rugged good looks suggest his divine attribution. However, due to the idealized nature of divine portraits it is difficult to determine his individual identity. Regardless, the beauty of this gorgeous ring speaks for itself. We need not know the name of the god to appreciate his powers. On those rare occasions when deities choose to reveal themselves to us, we need not be familiar with their features to recognize their divine presence.
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.
A representation of a youthful deity has been engraved onto the polished surface of this precious gemstone. His confident expression and rugged good looks suggest his divine attribution. However, due to the idealized nature of divine portraits it is difficult to determine his individual identity. Regardless, the beauty of this gorgeous ring speaks for itself. We need not know the name of the god to appreciate his powers. On those rare occasions when deities choose to reveal themselves to us, we need not be familiar with their features to recognize their divine presence.