Famous Antique Cameos
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The very best Gemstone Cameos from History
Ancient methods of hardstone engraving were based on principles still in play today. The pieces were worked by manipulating various drills (in antiquity made of relatively soft metal, eventually replaced by iron) against them. The actual cutting was accomplished not with the point of the drill itself but by using the drill to rub powders into the stone.
At all times the stones must have been gripped fixedly to prevent their shattering. When magnifying glasses were introduced into the art is unclear; today they would be virtually indispensable. In the nineteenth century, new methods, including the intervention of photography, allowed greater accuracy.
The technique has since enjoyed periodic revivals, notably in the early Renaissance, and again in the 18th and 19th centuries. The Neoclassical revival began in France with Napoleon's support of the glyptic arts, and even his coronation crown was decorated with cameos.
You can see a gallery with more examples of Antique cameos on my main website PortraitCameos.com.
The Gemma Augustea Cameo
Carved by Dioscurides, c. AD 10-20, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.
Dioscurides was Caesar Augustus' favorite gem cutter, and his work and copies of it are seen from all over the ancient Roman world.
The Gemma Augustea is a large low-relief cameo gem cut from a double-layered Arabian onyx stone. One layer is white, while the other is bluish-brown. The size of the gem also made for easier manipulation and a grander scene. It stands 7½ inches tall with a width of 9 inches and an average thickness of ½ inch.
Cameo collection at the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
The Gemma Claudia Cameo
Superb Roman Cameo from AD 49.
The Gemma Claudia is a Roman five-layered onyx cameo of c.49. It later found its way into the Habsburg collections now in the Kunsthistoriches Museum, Vienna (AS Inv. No. IX A 63). It is 12 cm high and set in a gold rim.
It depicts two cornucopia (with an eagle between), out of which sprout four portraits, two on either side. On the left is the Emperor Claudius and his new wife Agrippina (as Cybele, the goddess of fertility) opposite them, Agrippina's parents Germanicus (also Claudius's brother) and Agrippina. Its 49 AD date places it soon after Claudius marrying Agrippina in January 49, and makes it possible that it was an official marriage gift to the imperial couple.
The unknown artist carved the work from the five alternately dark and light layers of the stone with great virtuosity. He achieves an increased transparency of the material by cutting layers that in places are of unparalleled thinness (minimum 2 mm).
Antique portrait cameo carved in Lapis Lazuli
The Renaissance lapis lazuli cameo carving with a portrait of Cosimo I de' Medici. (1519-1574), Duke of Florence and Grand Duke of Tuscany. From the Grand-ducal workshops, Florence.
Date: ca. 1567-69 Culture: Italian (Florence) Carved into Lapis lazuli Based on a portrait-medallion. Dimensions: 2 3/16 x 1 13/16 x 3/8 in. (5.5 x 4.7 x 1 cm); 55.2 x 46.5 x 10 mm.
Displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art, New York. Part of the Milton Weil Collection
Superb Antique Cameo by Alessandro Masnago
Carvers often manipulated the strata so that figures of two or more colors would emerge. One atmospheric example in the exhibition is a late-sixteenth-century cameo by Alessandro Masnago. Working with a three-inch-high piece of variegated agate, the artist created a pastoral scene of a shepherdess and her flock resting in a moonlit landscape with a city in the background.
This is incredibly detailed and really must be viewed in close-up to truly appreciate the Art.
Great Cameo Collections: New York, USA.
Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art
I visited this exhibition at the Met in New York. I flew over from London, England as this exhibition was of such a high quality. I was also able to combine this visit with meeting a customer, for whom I had recently made a family cameo. We had a delightful afternoon in Central Park, where I was able to see his 3 year old daughter, who I had recently carved a cameo portrait of. Here you can read more of this Cameo Portrait.
The exhibition was superb and I spent many hours over three days carefully examining the cameo carvings. My favorite was the superb jasper carving of the head of Medusa by Benedetto Pistrucci, shown above. This really is breathtaking when viewed in close up and at almost 3 inches across is of a large size.
The exhibition examined the art of hardstone carving. It traced cameo carving from Greco-Roman antiquity to the Renaissance; illuminates differences, such as those between cameos and intaglios; touches upon the making of cameo glass; and highlighted the Metropolitan's splendid holdings of Neoclassical Italian cameos by first-rate carvers such as Pistrucci, Girometti, and Saulini.
You can read more on this exhibition on the Metropolitan Museums website here.There is also an excellent book called Cameo Appearances based on this exhibition which can be found on Amazon and other sources.
Great Cameo Collections: Leningrad, Russia.
The Hermitage Museum
A double portrait, believed to be of the couple Ptolomy II Philadelphus and Arsinoe II, from Alexandria, carved in Sardonyx, with three layers. From the 3rd century BC.Bought in 1814 and originating from Malmaison, a gift from Josephine Beauharnais to Alexander I. Kept in St Petersburg, Hermitage State Museum, inv. n. GR 12678
Il Cammeo Gonzaga is a Hellenistic engraved gem; a cameo of the capita jugata variety cut out from the three layers of an Indian sardonyx, dating from perhaps the 3rd Century BC. It was a centrepiece of the Gonzaga collection of antiquities, first described in a 1542 inventory of Isabella d'Este's collection as representing Augustus and Livia. The figures were later identified as Alexander the Great and Olympias, Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder, Nero and Agrippina the Younger, and many other famous couples of antiquity.
The male figure on the cameo is clad in the attributes of Alexander, including a laurel-wreathed helmet, and wears a gorgoneion. His other aegis represents a bearded head, probably that of Zeus Ammon. The man's laurel wreath is crowned by a snake which suggests the uraeus. The contrasting male and female profiles were in all probability intended to suggest Zeus and Hera. The brown necklace is a later addition masking the fact that the cameo was, at some point, broken in half.
In 1794 the cameo was part of Pius VI's collection in Vatican. The invading French took it with them to Paris where it entered the collection of Napoleon and Empress Joséphine. After Napoleon's downfall, Alexander I of Russia paid a visit to the Château de Malmaison and offered Joséphine every assistance in his power. As a sign of gratitude she presented the cameo to the Tsar.
Ever since then, the so-called Malmaison cameo has been kept in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. In Vienna there is a rival Hellenistic cameo, of lesser quality, which the Habsburgs also described as the "Gonzaga cameo", probably on assumption that it had not been stolen by the Swedes in 1648. This results in considerable confusion between the two.
Great Cameo Collections: Vienna, Austria.
Kunsthistorisches Museum
Pictured is the Ptolemaeus cameo, also known as the Ptolemaeer Cameo. Vienna (Ptolemy, Ptrolemaer-kameo) Cameo
Sardonyx (11 layers).
Ptolemaic but has been argued as Claudian and Severan. Evidence that it may have switched identities with the Gonzaga cameo during history only further complicates the scholarship but most feel comfortable identifying it as a product of Alexandria under the Ptolemies.
Also identified as Ptolemy II Philadelphos and Arsinoe, but has been argued as Claudian and Severan.Evidence that it may have switched identities with the Gonzaga cameo during history only further complicates the scholarship but most feel comfortable identifying it as a product of Alexandria under the Ptolemies.
The Habsburgs also described this as the "Gonzaga cameo", probably on assumption that it had not been stolen by the Swedes in 1648. The original Gonzaga Cameo is shown at The Hermitage Museum, Russia. This results in considerable confusion between the two.
The Author of this lens on Antique Cameos
Written by an expert gemstone cameo carver
Regarded as the best portrait cameo artist in North America. Gareth is one of a very select group of gemstone carvers. Born in Wales in the United Kingdom, Gareth has benefited from rigorous training with the best in his field.European craftsmen have a deserved reputation for the finest skills and training. Great skill, artistry and experience are needed to be able to create accurate 'life-like' portraits. Very few people have this combination of art and craft.
Gareth feels strongly that for a cameo portrait to work he must feel that he "knows" the subject. It is very important to know the persons name and their nature so that he can enthuse the portrait carving with their spirit. He is very passionate about his art and loves to travel to meet his clients whenever possible. He has been creating work for some of his clients around the world for over 25 years.
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