- Museum number
- 1978,1002.591
- Description
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Engraved and enamelled gold brooch surmounted by a bow and set with a sardonyx cameo of a helmeted female warrior, the Minerva of Aspasios, with an engraved signature and an import mark.
- Production date
- 19thC(early)
- Dimensions
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Height: 4.40 centimetres (cameo)
- $Inscriptions
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- Curator's comments
- Text from catalogue of the Hull Grundy Gift (Gere et al 1984) no 910:
Probably by Pietro Girometti (1811-59). Pietro Girometti exhibited some of his work in Paris and a group of his cameos was shown at the Exposition Universelle in 1867, after his death. According to the Artistical Directory (1856), Pietro Girometti's workshop in Rome was at 49 via del Quirinale. The signature on this cameo is the same as that on the 'Antinous' (909) and the 'Hercules' in the Milton Weil collection in the Metropolitan Museum (Kris 1932a, fig.92). The subject is taken from the famous head of Minerva or Athena engraved on a gem by the Greek, Aspasios, and thought to represent the 'Athena Parthenos' of Phidias. It was first published in 1669, then again in 1724 by Baron Stosch while still in the collection of Cardinal Ottoboni. It was acquired by Stosch and then passed to the Imperial collection in Vienna (see Furtwangler 1900 III, pl.XLIX, no.12), and was frequently copied in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Tassie issued several versions as casts (see Raspe 1791, nos 1537-1544). (Charlotte Gere)
See also C. Gere & J. Rudoe, 'Jewellery in the Age of Queen Victoria: A Mirror to the World', London, British Museum, 2010, fig. 469 p.469. Caption: ‘Two cameos set as brooches . . . with English settings, 1840–64. . . . The detail (fig. 469B) shows the plumed helmet, earrings and fringe necklace; the device of putting jewellery within jewellery was popular with Victorians.’
Text: ‘The so-called “Minerva of Aspasios”, a disputed but much-copied gem in Vienna representing the head of Minerva or Athena signed by the Greek engraver Aspasios, was believed to derive from the gigantic figure of ‘Athena Parthenos’ by Phidias, which stood in front of the Parthenon in Athens. The antique gem in Vienna was thought to match the colouring of the original, providing a reference point for reconstructing the appearance of the Parthenon sculptures.’
The Vienna gem has a loop on the right shoulder of the bust, which is here transformed into a reptile, explaining the identification of the bust as Cleopatra. The high colouring of this gem may reflect mid-Victorian fascination with the sculptural polychromy in Greek art, led by John Gibson with his Tinted Venus, 1851–6 (Liverpool Museums, WAG7808). (Charlotte Gere)
- Location
- On display (G47/dc4)
- Acquisition date
- 1978-1981
- Acquisition notes
- Harvey & Gore, 4 Burlington Gardens, London W1. Original invoice £460 to Anne Hull Grundy dated February 1972, described as 'Cornelian cameo of Cleopatra signed by Guiseppe Girometti, the mount French, c. 1840'.
- Department
- Britain, Europe and Prehistory
- Registration number
- 1978,1002.591
- Additional IDs
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Miscellaneous number: HG.591 (masterlist number)
