Lot 394 | A LARGE AGATE CAMEO SET IN A GOLD RING. BUST OF CICERO.

Bertolami Fine Art - Piazza Lovatelli 1, 00186 Roma

A LARGE AGATE CAMEO SET IN A GOLD RING. BUST OF CICERO.

A LARGE AGATE CAMEO SET IN A GOLD RING. BUST OF CICERO.

18th century

Stone 20x27 mm; int. Size 19x20 mm; 36,20 gr.

This interesting cameo is carved in very high relief, and retains its fragile prominent parts intact, such as the tip of the nose. The effigy is made up of a bust of an elderly man, with a partially bald skull. One shoulder is naked, while the other is draped. The physiognomy and the hair can be referred to the models of late republican Roman portraits of the time of J. Caesar. This expressive portrait can be identified with the Senator Marcus Tullius Cicero, a very popular subject during the Grand Tour. The stone is mounted in a heavy solid gold ring.

Provenance: U.K. private collection