LOT 0373

Renaissance Shell Cameo of the Triumph of Galatea, after Raphael, in a Later Gold Brooch

CIRCA 1530–1560 A.D.

1 5/8 in. (11.6 grams, 40 mm).

An oval cameo carved in high relief in shell, with opaque white figures against a pale greylilac ground, depicting the Triumph of Galatea, the composition centring on the partially draped sea nymph standing in a shell-shaped marine chariot, surrounded by a closely arranged procession of Tritons, Nereids and fantastic sea creatures, on the left, a marine figure and companion incorporated among the curling drapery and sea forms; immediately to the right of Galatea a prominently modelled bearded Triton, while a further male marine figure projecting forwards at the far right, the curved, ribbed vehicle beneath the principal figure represents her shell chariot; the small forms in the upper field may represent remnants of the airborne putti included in the engraved compositions; the cameo enclosed beneath a high convex glass cover in a plain gold brooch mount, a narrow bezel around the oval perimeter, and a long projecting brooch pin, the gold mount probably British, early 19th century.

Acquired on the European art market.
UK, private collection.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.13507-263384.

Cf. a comparable cameo in the Royal Collection Trust, with Putto, Triton and Nereid, no. inv. RCIN 43770.

The subject derives from Raphael’s Triumph of Galatea, painted for Agostino Chigi at the Villa Farnesina in Rome around 1512. Raphael represented Galatea amid a marine procession of Tritons and Nereids, combining classical imagery with a treatment of the subject associated with Angelo Poliziano’s Stanze per la Giostra. The composition was rapidly disseminated through prints, which made it available to artists and craftsmen working beyond Rome. Uffizi Galleries, The Triumph of Galatea. The Royal Collection preserves an Italian cameo, dated to the late 16th century, depicting a putto in a shell-shaped chariot drawn through the waves by a Triton carrying a Nereid. That cameo was subsequently placed in an 18th-century mount. It provides a related example for both Renaissance marine imagery and the later mounting of an earlier carving as a jewel. Royal Collection Trust, Putto, Triton and Nereid, RCIN 43770. The present cameo combines an ambitious multifigure relief with a composition derived from Raphael’s Galatea and its engraved adaptations.