INTAGLI AND CAMEI.
113
Among the best of the antique camei, or the onyx cut in
relief, are :
Case I., near the door, No. I., Venus caressing Ganymede
on Mount Olympus, and looking back at Jupiter.
No. 2, a fragment : Minerva with the infant Hercules
strangling the serpents.
No. 3, Antonius Pius sacrificing to Hope ; more remark-
able for the size and beauty of the stone than for the work.
The little winged figure near the altar represents the genius of
the emperor.
No. 4, Venus Victrix, or the Conqueror ; Julius Cæsar,
who pretended to trace his descent from Venus, first caused
the goddess to be represented armed. The arrangement of
the hair and the ignoble features have suggested that this may
have been a portrait.
No. 6, Venus attired by the Graces, a cameo of good
style.
No. 7, Cupid mounted on a lion and playing a lyre ; this
gem is quoted in many works on antiquities. The inscription,
Protarchus faciebat, is in relief ; it is most delicate in execution
and a very fine stone.
No. 8, four Amorini trying to raise the club of Hercules,
whilst one buries his head in the hero’s cup.
No. 9, Cupid dragging Psyche along by her hair ; very
exquisite workmanship.
No. 13, Apollo in gold on a ground of sardonyx is one of the
most valuable ornaments of this collection. It belonged to the
Piccolomini family, and from them came into the posession of
the Electress Anna Maria, the daughter of Gaston, the last
Medici Grand Duke.
No. 14, Mars Victor (Mars the Conqueror); a work
among the best of the first century of the Roman Empire.
No. 17, Hercules binding Cerberus ; a favourite subject ;
of which the finest example is the engraved gem by Dioscorides,
in the Berlin collection.
VOL. II.