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Lot Essay
This impressive two-layer sardoynx, white on brown, is sculpted with the frontal bust of a Julio-Claudian prince in extremely high relief. He wears a tunic with a V-shaped neckline and a toga over his left shoulder, their vertical folds well-articulated. He has a somewhat pointed chin, a slender nose and prominent ears. In his short wavy locks he wears a laurel wreath. The cameo was mounted as a pendant in a gold frame, the ensemble further set into an elaborate openwork gold mount embellished with gems including peridot, garnets and amethysts, all typical work of the 18th century and perhaps commissioned by Bessborough. According to Boardman et al., (op. cit., p. 169), an Italian bronze plaquette copied from the cameo that was on the market in 2008 suggests it was already known in the Renaissance.
The identity of this Julio-Claudian prince has been the subject of debate since its first publication in the 18th century. Natter (op. cit., p. 2) considered it a portrait of Germanicus; for Bryant it is a young Augustus; all subsequent views vacillate between these two. Based on comparison to two other frontal cameos, Germanicus seems the most plausible (see nos. C22, a glass cameo formerly in Munich, and C23, a sardonyx cameo in the British Museum, in W.-R. Megow, Kameen von Augustus bis Alexander Severus). Germanicus Julius Caesar (15 B.C.–19 A.D.) was the great-nephew and step-grandson of Augustus, the first Roman emperor. In 4 A.D., he was adopted by his paternal uncle, Tiberius, who succeeded Augustus as Emperor a decade later. As a result, Germanicus became an official member of the gens Julia, another prominent family whom he was related to on his mother's side. His connection to the Julii was further consolidated through a marriage between himself and Agrippina the Elder, a granddaughter of Augustus. Although Germanicus died of mysterious circumstances while on campaign in the East, two of his descendants would become emperor, his son Caligula and his grandson Nero.
The identity of this Julio-Claudian prince has been the subject of debate since its first publication in the 18th century. Natter (op. cit., p. 2) considered it a portrait of Germanicus; for Bryant it is a young Augustus; all subsequent views vacillate between these two. Based on comparison to two other frontal cameos, Germanicus seems the most plausible (see nos. C22, a glass cameo formerly in Munich, and C23, a sardonyx cameo in the British Museum, in W.-R. Megow, Kameen von Augustus bis Alexander Severus). Germanicus Julius Caesar (15 B.C.–19 A.D.) was the great-nephew and step-grandson of Augustus, the first Roman emperor. In 4 A.D., he was adopted by his paternal uncle, Tiberius, who succeeded Augustus as Emperor a decade later. As a result, Germanicus became an official member of the gens Julia, another prominent family whom he was related to on his mother's side. His connection to the Julii was further consolidated through a marriage between himself and Agrippina the Elder, a granddaughter of Augustus. Although Germanicus died of mysterious circumstances while on campaign in the East, two of his descendants would become emperor, his son Caligula and his grandson Nero.