Intaglio Gem Depicting a Seated Apollo

AAT Object Techniqueintaglios (sculptural objects)

AAT Object Form/Functionfigures (representations)

AAT Object Form/Functiongems (worked stones)

CultureRoman

PeriodImperial

Datelate 1st Century BCE-early 1st Century CE

MediumMicrocrystalline quartz, var. chromian chalcedony

Credit LineGift of the Estate of Michael J. Shubin

Dimensions7/16 x 5/16 x 1/8 in. (1.1 x 0.8 x 0.3 cm)

Object number2012.032.026

Label TextApollo, semi-nude with drapery falling around his lower half, sits enthroned on this chromium chalcedony gemstone. He leans against a low pedestal and gazes at a laurel branch in his upraised left hand, his bow slung over his shoulder; before him, a raven perches on a stone. Representations of Apollo were popular with supporters of Octavian/Augustus (63 BCE-14 CE), who promoted the god as his divine protector, especially before and after the Battle of Actium (31 BCE), in which he defeated his rivals Marc Antony and Cleopatra VII, the last Ptolemaic queen of Egypt. Apolline imagery was consequently used to symbolize the golden age that Octavian/Augustus guaranteed (see also cat. no. 87). On gems, such motifs may have expressed general hopes for prosperity and success.
Exhibition HistoryMaking an Impression: The Art and Craft of Ancient Engraved Gemstones, Michael C. Carlos Museum, August 27 - November 27, 2022
Published ReferencesLisbet Thoresen. Archaeogemmology and Ancient Literary Sources on Gems and Their Origins. in Gemstones in the First Millennium AD: Mines, Trade, Workshops, and Symbolism (proceedings of conference held October 20th - 22nd, 2015). Alexandra Hilgner, Susanne Greiff, and Dieter Quast (eds). Roman-Germanic Central Museum. Mainz: 2017. p. 188, fig 17E., p. 200, fig 24C.

ProvenanceEx coll. Michael Shubin (1950-2008), Montebello, California, purchased from Frank Sternberg AG, Zurich, Switzerland, November, 16, 2000, lot 1124.

Status

Not on view

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