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Details
LOT 0093
Roman Sapphire Gemstone of Bacchus
1ST CENTURY B.C.
1/2 in. (1.41 grams, 12 mm).
With intaglio profile bust of the god Bacchus facing left; supplied with a museum-quality impression.
Provenance
Private English collection, formed between the late 1970s and early 1990s.
Private collection, London, UK.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12952-246460.
Literature
Cf. Elise Giz, J., Confronting the Divine in Miniature: engraved gems and the creation of religious experience in Pompeii, New Brunswick, 2024, fig.2, for similar portrait.
Footnotes
During and after the Alexandrine period, the character of Greek gems changed considerably: the type of figure became softer and more feminine in beauty, Homeric scenes were no longer represented, and deities such as Apollo, Aphrodite or Dionysus, with subjects relating to the theatre or musical contests, became the favourite motifs for representation.
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