Ancient Roman. Cameo Portraying Emperor Claudius as Jupiter. 41 AD–54 AD. Italy. Cameo sardonyxMount gold, pearls, and enamel This exquisite cameo is thought to combine a portrait of the fourth Roman emperor, Claudius (r. AD 41–54), and the powerfully muscled body of Rome’s supreme deity, Jupiter. The figure is nude except for an aegis (protective garment) wrapped around his right thigh, modestly drawn across his body, and draped over his left arm. A laurel wreath is tied around his head. A long scepter rests against his left forearm, and he holds a thunderbolt in his right hand. An eagle watc
Ancient Roman. Cameo Portraying Emperor Claudius as Jupiter. 41 AD–54 AD. Italy. Cameo sardonyxMount gold, pearls, and enamel This exquisite cameo is thought to combine a portrait of the fourth Roman emperor, Claudius (r. AD 41–54), and the powerfully muscled body of Rome’s supreme deity, Jupiter. The figure is nude except for an aegis (protective garment) wrapped around his right thigh, modestly drawn across his body, and draped over his left arm. A laurel wreath is tied around his head. A long scepter rests against his left forearm, and he holds a thunderbolt in his right hand. An eagle watches him from the ground. The aegis, thunderbolt, and eagle are symbols of Jupiter; the scepter and laurel wreath are those of the imperial office. Conjoined, they identify the emperor as the father-god, Jupiter, the supreme deity of the Roman virtuoso gem engraver delicately coaxed his design from a single piece of sardonyx comprising three thin, horizontal layers of naturally occurring colors (golden brown, white, and a dark blue-gray, respectively). He painstakingly removed the extraneous stone in order to carve the low-relief figures of Claudius and the eagle against the dark background, retaining a sufficient amount of stone around the perimeter to create a beveled border from the opaque layers of white and brown.
Size: 2420px × 3000px
Photo credit: © WBC ART / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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