Gonzaga Cameo

Named in honor of the first known owner - Marquis Francesco II Gonzaga , a Renaissance patron, ruler of the Italian city of Mantua . The first mention of it occurs in 1542 in the inventory catalog of the collection of Isabella d'Este , the wife of Francesco ^[2] , where the models were mistakenly identified:

Young Rubens , who saw her at the beginning of the 17th century, considered this cameo the best seen: “I believe that among gems with paired portraits this one is the most beautiful in Europe” ^[2] .

Until 1630, it belonged to the Mantua Dukes. In the years 1630–1648, the cameo was stored in the Prague Castle in the Habsburg treasury, as they took possession of Mantua and removed the treasures from there ^[4] . Then it falls into Stockholm as a trophy of the Swedish troops that captured Prague. Since 1648, the cameo was in the collection of the Swedish Queen Christina and was designated as “an agate painting depicting two Romans in a red case”. When Christina abdicated and left for one of the Italian monasteries, she took away with herself a cameo. After the Queen’s death in 1689, the cameo came to her favorite Cardinal D. Azzolino , who sold the Queen's art collection to the Duke Bracciano of the Odescalchi clan. In 1794, it was stored in the Vatican - in the library of Pope Pius VI, who bought it. From there, in 1798, the cameo was confiscated by the French during the occupation of Rome and taken to France.

Came to the Hermitage in 1814 from the collection of Josephine Beauharnais . In 1814, having entered troops with France, Emperor Alexander I paid a visit to the Malmaison Palace and was touched by the plight of Josephine. He gave orders to ensure the safety of her and her family at a time when the Allied forces entered Paris. As a token of gratitude, Josephine presented Alexander with a cameo ^[5] . In the palace Malmaison , the residence of Josephine, in the XIX century cameo was also called "cameo Malmaison" ^[6] . (In the same year, Josephine died - as they say, having caught a cold, walking in the light dress along the alleys with the Russian emperor. Part of her collection was bought by Alexander already from the heirs).

Model Identification

At the moment, it is believed that the cameo is a paired portrait of the Hellenistic pharaohs of Egypt - spouses who were both brother and sister - Ptolemy II Philadelphus and Arsinoe II . Since there are no inscriptions and individual attributes on the cameo, the researchers did not immediately come to this conclusion.

During the Renaissance, it was believed that the cameo depicts Octavian Augustus and his wife Libya . Versions have also been put forward that it was Alexander the Great and his mother the Olympics or other royal couples of antiquity: Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder , and even Ptolemy II and his first wife Arsinoe I. Subsequently, the opinion changed, and the following versions arose: among the Romans - Adrian and Vibia Sabina , Nero and his mother Agrippina the Younger , Caligula and his grandmother Anthony the Younger , Druz the Younger and Livilla . Among the rulers of the Hellenistic world, the following names were most often mentioned: Ptolemy and Eurydice I , Ptolemy III and Berenice II , Alexander I Valas and Cleopatra Thea , Ptolemy X Alexander and Cleopatra III , and even Mithridates Eupator ^[7] .

Experts had a long debate about the date and place of origin of this cameo. Versions span a period of time of at least three centuries, and differences of opinion still persist. At the moment, authorities are of the opinion that the work comes from Alexandria , where a similar art of working with stones arose. This theory is also fueled by iconographic studies and a noted connection with Egyptian tradition. In addition, it takes into account the love of mythological subjects inherent in the Ptolemaic court, as well as the similarity with the reliefs of Alexandria. The style and nature of the carving, its difference from the Roman tradition, led many experts to move the date to the first Hellenistic period , when double profile portraits arose. This type, known as capita jugata , is characterized by the fact that one profile appears immediately after another.

In general, since style and technique prove that the cameo was made in Alexandria and belongs to the first Hellenistic period, most researchers consider it impossible to portray the rulers of Rome or Syria. Until now, two versions remain the most believable and popular: Alexander the Great with his mother or the son of his general Ptolemy II with his wife. Both theories have their supporters and opponents, who readily indicate the similarity of those depicted with well-known identified portraits. Versions of Alexander are supported by J. Krause, A. Furtwängler, J. Bernoulli, A. Heckler, G. Lippold, M. Bieber, G. Richter, G. Wirth.

Nevertheless, since in addition to the mother, researchers cannot offer any other woman worthy of being shown next to Alexander, and bearing in mind the fact that in the features of a man and a woman they find family similarities, the assumption that the cameo depicts Ptolemy and his sister-wife Arsinoy seems most believable. This version was proposed by J. Eckhel, developed by EQ Visconti, and supported by C. Davenport, A. Springer, A. Michaelis, G. Rodenwaldt, A. Adriani, Z. Kiss, as well as M. Maksimova and O. Neverov, who also indicate that in the numismatics of the period of the first Ptolemies it was capita jugata that was adopted .

Status

At Ptolemy, a strip of necklaces around his neck is complemented by a strange brown curl: this is a trace of a later restoration in an attempt to hide that the cameo was broken in half.

The cameo is a paired portrait of the rulers of Egypt. Their images are idealized images. In the work of an unknown Alexandrian master, the texture and color of three different layers of stone were skillfully used, making the skin appear milky white, and the armor dark.

“The sovereign monarchs of Hellenistic Egypt, Ptolemy II and his wife Arsinoe are represented here as the gods of the Greek pantheon - θεοί ἄδελφοι. Representing his masters, the court master idealizes them, giving Ptolemy II the resemblance to Alexander the Great, emphasizing youth, beauty, energy in the king’s ideal profile. The portrait of his wife seems hieratically strict, the soft features of his face breathe calmness. On the shoulder of Ptolemy II - the auspices of Zeus , the supreme god of the Hellenes, and the helmet likens it to the god Ares . On the heads of the king and the queen, as a sign of deification, are laurel wreaths.

The master’s bold, virtuoso technique is striking: energetic plastic, soft, nuanced modeling combined with a subtle coloristic solution make the cameo an excellent example of “painting in stone”. On the ash-gray background, the profiles of the king and his wife are clearly emerging. The carver used the gradual gradations of the three main layers of the stone: behind the dazzling white profile of Ptolemy, as if highlighted by bright light, a bluish profile of Arsinoe was seen fading into the shade. The helmet, hair, auspices of the king are carved in the upper brown layer, and the lighter specks encountered are used for rosettes on the helmet and decorating the auspices of the heads of Medusa and Phobos . This enhances the picturesque cameo. By varying the polishing, the master gave the middle, somewhat transparent, layer of bodily warmth, and the upper, in which the helmet was carved, an almost metallic luster ” ^[5] .

The rulers are depicted in double profile as gods, combined in a holy marriage (ιερός γάμος). Arsinoe is wearing a wedding veil and a laurel wreath; another wreath is worn on the helmet of Ptolemy, also decorated with a star and a winged dragon at the top ^[7] .

If you adhere to the most generally accepted version of the identification of the model (Ptolemy II and Arsinoe II), then the plot of the marriage receives special value. This was the first marriage between the Hellenistic rulers of Egypt, concluded according to the ancient Egyptian tradition - between a brother and a sister, which was shocking enough for Greek society. In the surviving list of titles, Arsinoe emphasizes that she was the daughter of the king, the sister of the king and the wife of the king, her ambitious and rebellious character, as well as her active participation in the administration of the state, is also known. Due to this, probably, the artist considered it possible to portray the queen side by side with the king. After her death, Arsinoe was deified as a “goddess loving her brother” (θεά φιλάδελφος).

• Since 1992, Gonzaga cameo has been a registered trademark of Kamea OJSC and is used for confectionery products ^[8] .

• Stephanie, The Guidebook, p. 72, - N. E. Makarenko, Art Treasures of the Hermitage, Pg., 1916, p. 240, fig. 87
• Maksimova M.I. Kameya Gonzaga. - L., 1924.
• Maksimova M. I. Antique Carved Stones of the Hermitage. Exhibition guide. - L., 1926.
• Maksimova. Carved stones, p. 94, tab. IV; Portrait Exhibition, p. 21
• Neverov O. Ya. Ancient cameos in the collection of the State Hermitage. - L., Aurora, 1971. - S. 29, ill. one.
• Neverov O. Ya. Kameya Gonzaga: From the history of glyptics. - L., 1977.
• E. Babelon, La gravure en [p.30] pierres fines: camées et intailles, Paris, 1894, p. 135, fig. 104
• Furtwängler, Die antiken Gemmen, Taf. LIII, 2; G. Rodenwaldt, Kunst der Antike, Propyläen-Kunstgeschichte, III, Berlin, 1944, Abb. 422
• M. Bieber, The Portraits of Alexander the Great, Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc., 93, 1949, p. 390, fig. 3; JDI, 77, 1962, S. 227, Abb. 7
• G. Richter, The Engraved Gems of the Greeks, Etruscans and Romans, I, London, 1968, p. 155, Nr 611

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