conclusive as to date, and the style of the male portrait (which recalls the realistic bronze busts found at Pompeii) points rather to an early Flavian date. Amongst the finest pieces of this collection is a large bowl with an emblema in high relief (Plate VII. fig. 35), which was at first taken to represent the city of Alexandria, on account of the sistrum which appears amongst the attributes of the figure. It seems, however, to be a personification of the province of Africa, which was conventionally represented with a headdress formed by an elephant's scalp with trunk and tusks. We have in this emblema the earliest example of the ideal types which the Roman artists of the Empire called into being to symbolize the subject-countries; the inexhaustible fertility of the African soil is indicated by the cornucopia and the fruits carried in the bosom of the figure. But there is some trace of that overcharging of symbolism to which we drew attention in discussing the Prima Porta statue of Augustus; and, though the bowl was in a very fine state of preservation, there is little doubt that this was due to the care with which it had been kept—it was of course an ornament reserved for the table or sideboard—and that we should date it to the Augustan period. The same is clearly true of the most important pieces comprised in the treasure—the pair of cups reserved by Baron Edmond de Rothschild and forming part of his collection (Plate VII. figs. 33 and 34). In these we have examples of the crustae, or plaques decorated in repoussé, which were mounted on smooth silver cups. The manufacture of these—or at least the designing thereof—was a special branch of caelatura, and Pliny mentions an artist named Teucer who achieved distinction therein; we may possibly identify him with the gem-engraver whose signature is read on an amethyst at Florence. Upon one of these (Plate VII. fig. 34), we see a seated figure of Augustus, approached by a processional group on both sides. To the left are three divinities, the foremost of whom presents a statuette of Victory to the emperor; to the right is Mars in full panoply, in whose train follow the conquered provinces, symbolized by female figures, amongst whom we recognize Africa with her elephant headgear (see above). On the other face of the cup we see Augustus again seated, receiving the homage of a group of barbarians ushered into his presence by a Roman commander. The schemes which are here found for the first time, became typical in Roman historical art, and thence passed into the service of Christianity to portray the homage of the Magi. The second cup celebrates the glories of Tiberius, whose triumphal procession appears on the one face, and a finely conceived scene of sacrifice on the other. For the occasion various dates have been suggested (13-12 or 8-7 B.C.); but it seems most likely that the return of Tiberius from Dalmatia in A.D. 9 is here commemorated.
The fortunate preservation of the Bosco Reale treasure has enabled us to appraise Roman silver work at its true value. It also affords some confirmation of the rapid decadence of the art, which Pliny laments. Amongst the cups are two decorated with still-life subjects and signed by an artist who writes a Roman name (Sabinus) in Greek characters, which clearly belong to the last years of Pompeii, and are coarser in execution than the earlier pieces. And the simple emblemata of the classical period, which stand out against the background of the bowl in which they are framed, give place to such a crowded group as we find on a gold patera[1] found at Rennes and preserved in the Cabinet des Médailles, where the artist has surrounded the central emblema with a frieze which detracts from its effect. This and still later specimens of Roman silversmiths' work are described in the article Plate.
(5) Gem-Engraving and Minor Arts.—The art of the gem engraver, like that of the silversmith, was naturally held in high esteem by the wealthy Romans both of the Republic and Empire,[2] and the period of its highest excellence coincides almost precisely with that which gave birth to the masterpieces of Roman silver-chasing. By far the greater part of the ancient gems which exist in modern collections belong to the Roman period; and the great popularity of gem-engraving amongst the Romans is shown by the enormous number of imitative works cast in coloured glass paste, which reproduce the subjects represented in more precious materials. Not only were intagli thus produced to suit the popular demand, but fine cameos were at times cut (not cast) in coloured glass; the most notable example of these is a portrait of Tiberius in turquoise-coloured glass bearing the signature of Herophilus (see below).
In the style of Roman intagli we can trace each of the phases through which Roman plastic art has been shown to pass.[3] A black agate in the Hague Museum (Furtwängler, pl. xlvii. 13) supplies a characteristic portrait of the Ciceronian age; the splendid carnelian of the Tyszkiewicz collection (Furtwängler, pl. 1. 19) with the signature ΠΟΠΙΑ · ΑΛΒΑΝ · which portrays Augustus in the guise of Poseidon in a chariot drawn by four hippocamps, is doubtless (as Furtwängler showed) to be referred to the victory of Actium; the classicism of the early Empire is exemplified by a sardonyx in Florence (Furtwängler, pl. lix., 11), which probably displays an empress of the Julio-Claudian line with the attributes of Hera; a sardonyx in the hermitage at St Petersburg (Furtwängler, pl. lviii. 1) is noteworthy because the subject is borrowed from painting and occurs on a Pompeian fresco discovered in 1897; the portraiture of the Flavian epoch is seen at its best in the aquamarine of the Cabinet des Médailles signed by Euhodos, which represents Julia, the daughter of Titus (Furtwängler, pl. xlviii. 8). Amongst later gems one of the finest is the “Hunt of Commodus” in the Cabinet des Médailles (Furtwängler, pl. l. 41), which is engraved in one of the stones most popular with the Roman artists—the “Nicolo,” a sardonyx with a bluish-grey upper layer used as background and a dark brown under layer in which the design is cut.
But the masterpieces of Roman gem-cutting are to be found in the great cameos, the finest of which no doubt belonged to the treasures of the imperial house. These were engraved in various materials, including single coloured stones such as amethyst or chalcedony; but the stone most fitted by nature for this branch of art was the sardonyx in its two chief varieties—the Indian, distinguished by the warmth and lustre of its tones, and the Arabian, with a more subdued scale of colour. As examples of these we shall take-the two master-works of the art—the “Grand camée de France” (Plate VII. fig. 37), and the “Gemma Augustea” (Plate VII. fig. 36), preserved in the imperial collection at Vienna. The latter is attributed by Furtwängler to Dioscorides, the artist who, as Pliny tells us, enjoyed the exclusive privilege of portraying the features of Augustus. We possess several gems inscribed with his name, as well as with those of his sons and pupils—Eutyches, Herophilus (see above) and Hyllos; and, though several of these are Renaissance forgeries, enough genuine material exists for an appreciation of his style. The Arabian sardonyx was amongst his favourite stones, and the Vienna cameo at least represents the work of his school. Blending the real with the ideal, the artist has represented in the upper zone Augustus and Rome enthroned. Behind them is a group of divine figures—the inhabited Earth, Time and Tellus, according to the most probable interpretation; to the left we see Tiberius descending from a chariot driven by Victory, before which stands a youth, probably Germanicus. We seem to have here, as in the Bosco Reale cup, a scene from the triumphal
- ↑ Works of pure gold have but rarely survived to modern times; but traces of gilding remain upon many of the specimens of plate described above. In the law-books we have mention of cups adorned with golden crustae.
- ↑ We first hear of collections of gems in the last century of the Republic. Pompey dedicated that which had belonged to Mithridates the Great on the Capitol; Julius Caesar placed six collections in the temple of Venus Genitrix; and Marcellus dedicated another in the temple of Apollo on the Palatine.
- ↑ The references given in the text are to Furtwängler's great work, Die antiken Gemmen, in which all ancient gems of any considerable importance are reproduced.
