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Intaglio Jewelry :
Roman Seal Rings : Gold Ring Featuring a Roman Intaglio Depicting the Goddess Minerva
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Gold Ring Featuring a Roman Intaglio Depicting the Goddess Minerva - FJ.6591
Origin: Mediterranean
Circa: 100
AD
to 300
AD
Collection: Jewelry
Medium: Carnelian and Gold
£4,650.00
Location: UAE
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| Description |
This Genuine Ancient Seal Has Been Set in a
Modern 18 Karat Gold Ring.
The art of glyptics, or carving images on colored
precious stones, is probably one of the oldest
known to humanity. Intaglios, gems with an
incised design, were made as early as the fourth
and third millennia B.C. in Mesopotamia and the
Aegean Islands. They exhibit a virtuosity of
execution that suggests an old and stable
tradition rooted in the earliest centuries. The
tools required for carving gems were simple: a
wheel with a belt-drive and a set of drills.
Abrasives were necessary since the minerals
used were too hard for a metal edge. A special
difficulty of engraving intaglios, aside from their
miniature size, was that the master had to work
with a mirror image in mind.
The figure of Minerva, the Roman Goddess of
Wisdom equated with the Greek Pallas Athena,
has been carved onto the polished face of this
precious gemstone. She stands wearing her
warrior helmet, with her definitive attribute, the
aegis (a type of Greek shield) resting at her side.
In her left hand, stands a diminutive version of
the messenger of the gods, Mercury (known to
the Greeks as Hermes). Minerva is one of the
most popular and enduring of the entire
Classical pantheon. This Roman intaglio proves
that she was as equally revered in during the
Ancient Roman era as she was during the age of
the Greeks. Above all, this seal reveals the
absolute mastery of ancient Roman glyptic
artists, both in regards to the intricate detailing
of the image as well as the arrangement of the
composition given the minute confines of the
surface. This marvelous ring is symbolic of the
divine wisdom of the goddess Minerva. Surely,
one who wears this ring demonstrates their own
intelligence and appreciation for all things
ancient and beautiful.
- (FJ.6591)
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