Bertolami Fine Art - Riversdell Close 27, KT16 9JW Chertsey
Auction 86 - Glyptics and Ancient Jewelry sessione unica
Wednesday 9 December 2020 hours 14:00 (UTC +01:00)
A neoclassical agate cameo mounted on a modern gold ring. Diomede with the Palladium.
A neoclassical agate cameo mounted on a modern gold ring. Diomede with the Palladium.
19th century A.D.
Cameo : 19 x 23 mm
Ring : 19 x 18 mm
14,0 g
Son of Tydeus and Deipile, he was one of the main Achaean heroes of the war of the Epigoni and of the Trojan war. Author of the theft of the sacred Palladio, he is shown here in one of his most famous poses. Diomedes is seated on an altar adorned with garlands. With the right hand he holds the sword, with the left the Palladio (the arm is wrapped in a drapery). In front of him, a pillar with an idol on it. Groundline. The scene, highly emblematic and elegantly composed, is performed with refinement and great skill; of particular beauty is the way in which the transparency of the stone changes with respect to the highest or lowest relief of the figure. The stone is set in a beautiful gold ring. Very fine condition.
Parallels: Jean-Marc Moret, Les pierres gravées antiques représentant le rapt du Palladion, 1997 for a complete study of the subject.
U.K private collection, London.