Cameo of Hercules set in ring
Not on view
This cameo exemplifies the resurgence of glyptic artforms as part of the classical revival in the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Europe. The artform harks back to Pharaonic Egypt, where scarab intaglios were first produced, but the Greeks refined the glyptic arts, engraving both precious and semiprecious stone with extraordinary precision. This cameo bears the profile of a bearded, hulking Hercules donning his characteristic lion’s pelt. The curls of his hair, contour of his aquiline nose, and branching of the crow’s feet at the corner of his eye lend the demigod a sense of humanity. The gold ring into which the cameo is set may not be original to the work.
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