Gemma with deep relief. Cameo and its history. Cameos as luxury goods
An alternative name for the star is Alfecca. Big Astronomical Dictionary
The cameo is a symbol of exquisite beauty. This is a work of art, in which subtle grace, refinement of forms, beauty and perfection.
Cameos are ancient works of art that embody the ideal of the harmonious and beautiful created by man.
To tell the story of the cameo, let's define some terms that may be needed in our descriptions.
Glyptics- the art of stone carving.
Gemma- these are cameos and intaglios.
Cameos- carved stones with images in relief.
- stones or gems with an in-depth image. From ancient times they served as seals.
Already in the IV century BC. glyptic craftsmen carved lions, sphinxes, and scarab beetles in relief. But they were mostly monochrome cameos. At the beginning of the 3rd century BC. e. multi-colored gems appear. For their execution, a multilayer stone - agate was used. The multi-layer, that is, the polychrome of the stones, allowed the craftsmen, using different colors of the layers, to achieve effects of extraordinary color and picturesqueness. Multi-layered agate emphasized the play of different tones and their shades, and by changing the thickness of, for example, a white layer of agate so that a dark lower layer was visible through it, it was possible to achieve different shades. Ancient craftsmen used Indian sardonyx, which was a combination of white, yellow with reddish and even brown shades, and Arabic, which was dominated by blue-black and bluish shades.
Where do cameos come from? - From Alexandria. The city that was founded in 322 BC. e. Alexander the Great. It was here, at the mouth of the Nile River, that the skillful hands of Greek craftsmen made the great masterpieces of glyptics - a cameo with portraits of Ptolemy II and Arsinoe, the famous “Farnese cup”, “Ptolemy's cup” and many others.
And after the campaigns of Alexander the Great, new, varied in color and brightness, minerals began to be used in the manufacture of gems. Intaglio was more often used as a seal, and cameos became a luxury item. They were inserted into rings, diadems, crowns, adorned the clothes of kings, priests and nobles. Furniture, musical instruments, caskets and other expensive utensils began to be decorated with expensive oriental minerals. The products that have survived to this day, created by masters on the orders of the mighty of this world, amaze with their beauty and delicate artistic taste.
In ancient art, glyptic masters were held in high esteem. Many kings of Hellas had their own court stone carvers. Many of the nobility collected carved stones. For example, King Mithridates Eupator had a huge collection that was very famous.
Carving cameos is not an easy task, it required not only patience and great skill, but also the ability to see the pristine beauty in the stone, which only a brilliant master can reproduce. How great the labor of carving cameos can be explained. After all, the master worked and created images almost blindly, since many, such as agate, are hard enough, harder than metal, and in order to cut them, you need not a metal cutter, but abrasives, for example, "Naxos stone", corundum powder, diamond dust ... And when the master was grinding the image, the abrasive powder mixed with water and oil covered the drawing.
It took years of continuous work to make one cameo. And besides this, it was necessary to predict in advance, to see through the thickness of the mineral how its layers alternate, because they do not just run parallel, they bend, do not coincide, change the thickness - all this can destroy the conceived image. Therefore, a person could do this with a selfless love for beauty, with virtuoso skill. And the image was born slowly. However, the carvers were able to reproduce many antique paintings in stone - they turned out to be a kind of miniature painting gallery. Some of the cameos are copies of paintings by great painters that have been lost forever. The strength of the stone ensured the durability of the lost. Gone forever are the masterpieces of architecture, sculptures, the paintings of ancient painters have disappeared without a trace, and the ancient gems silently keep the beauty and secrets of bygone times.
The first gems in Russia began to be collected by Catherine II, who was seriously keen on this occupation. And once in a letter to one of the French enlighteners she writes: “My small collection of carved stones is such that yesterday four people barely carried two baskets with boxes, which contained barely half of the meeting; in order to avoid misunderstanding, know that these were the baskets in which we carry firewood in winter. " Access to the collection was limited, and not many people could see it. During the reign of Catherine II, up to 10,000 gems were collected.
Then the collection of the Hermitage continued to grow from the collections of the Russian nobility until 1917. And now the collection is growing. Not only archaeological expeditions contribute to this, but famous collections of gems from scientists-mineralogists are also transmitted. For example, the collection of the famous Soviet mineralogist G.G. Lemleina added more than 260 ancient gems to the Hermitage in 1964. It should be noted separately the world-famous cameo in the Hermitage collection, the Gonzago cameo, which appeared in Russia in 1814. The cameo was presented to Alexander I by Josephine Beauharnais, Napoleon's ex-wife. In 1542, the name of the owner of this cameo was first mentioned - the Duke of Mantua Gonzago. After the defeat of Mantua by Austria, the cameo began to travel. For four hundred years, it has changed its owners seven times. Now she is in the Hermitage.
The cameo was created by an unknown artist in the 3rd century. BC. in Alexandria. It depicts Ptolemy II and his wife Arsinoe. Portraying Ptolemy, the master emphasized his resemblance to Alexander the Great. On his shoulder the aegis of Zeus, the helmet of the monarch clearly repeats the helmet of the god Ares. On the heads of the rulers, laurel wreaths as a symbol of deification. The Gonzago Cameo is a fine example of stone painting. The master superbly and masterfully used all the layers of the stone. The profile of Ptolemy II seems to be highlighted with a bright light, while the profile of Arsinoe is visible in the shade of a bluish tint. In the uppermost brown layer, a helmet, hair, aegis are carved, and lighter blotches in this layer are used to create the heads of Medusa and Phobos that adorn the aegis. And that's not all. By changing the polish, the master gives the stone either bodily warmth or metallic sheen.
Many antique cameos are distinguished by their refinement and sophistication; mythological subjects can often be found on them. The extraordinary skill of the carvers is striking - their ability to depict complex multi-figured compositions, find the right pattern rhythm and give dynamism to miniature scenes. In addition to monarchs, copies of paintings by painters and mythological subjects, the heroic themes and pathos of images are captured in cameos. The Goddess of Victory is a favorite glyptic character.
The culture of Ancient Greece was also adopted by Rome. With the fall of the kingdom of the Ptolemies (30 BC) - the last power of Hellenism, many Greek masters gave their talent to the Julian-Claudian dynasty. A new style is born. Already preferred two-tone reliefs - white silhouettes against a dark background. The glyptics are becoming drier, more graphic and planar.
Epochs change, attitudes towards beauty change, sometimes cameos begin to remake, as if reinterpreting plots, subordinating them to the spirit of the times.
Cameos are not only beautiful works of art, but also a rich source of information about the material and spiritual culture of bygone times. The ancient world reached the highest peaks in the field of art, therefore, in subsequent eras, especially in the field of glyptics, many masters remained in the grip of this beauty and perfection, and their gems are imitations or copies of those that personified the ideal of painting in stone.
What cameos are in our modern world? Is there a place for them among the decorations?
Of course there is. And recently cameos have become especially popular. Today, as in the Victorian era, cameos are adorned with brooches, pendants, hairpins, and signet rings. Masters choose subjects not only ancient, but also modern. There is also a Breguet watch company that uses this technique, for example, in its Reine de Naples watches. The watch “Reine de Naples” was created by Abraham-Louis Breguet for the Queen of Naples Caroline Bonaparte-Murat. She was the younger sister of Napoleon I and the wife of his Marshal Murat.
Since this watch has not survived, its design was restored according to the descriptions in the company's archives. Almost 10 years ago, the clock of the Queen of Naples began to count down again. And then many more variants of these watches appeared, but the first model in the form of a cameo-daisy appeared in 2008. And now, on the eve of the bicentennial of the model, the Breguet brand has released unique versions of watches especially for Russia. A watch with cameos appeared, where Peter I on horseback, the profile of A.S. Pushkin, the image of George the Victorious. A seashell bas-relief in the upper part of the dial, the case bezel is decorated with diamonds, the case back is made of sapphire crystal. All watches listed are created in one copy.
And so, cameos are popular again and are a must-have item in the jewelry wardrobe. They combined the beauty of oriental minerals with the high genius of Hellas, the beauty of Man and Nature.
Gemma is an example of miniature carving on colored stones and semi-precious stones - glyptics. This art form appeared in ancient times. Thanks to the materials used, many rarities have come down to us in complete safety. Gemma with an in-depth image is called "intaglio", with a convex one - "cameo".
The images that the carvers applied to the stones could be very different. Most often these were images of figures of women and men, animals, birds, military subjects or allegorical paintings.
The most ancient examples appeared in Egypt and Mesopotamia. The oldest gem with an in-depth image dates back to the 4th millennium BC. e. The first cameos appeared at the end of the 4th and beginning of the 3rd century. BC e. Most often they were carved on sardonyx or multilayer agate, where white and brown stripes alternate, which the craftsmen skillfully used in their work. The resulting multicolor design distinguished cameos from Egyptian intaglios.
Gems were originally used as amulets or jewelry. Gradually, the emblems of the owners began to be depicted on them. In Egypt and Mesopotamia, the in-depth gem began to be used instead of printing, which was not only applied to papers. She marked the doors of the dwelling, chests with property, amphorae with wine, since the locks and keys were not known. The Greeks and Romans applied gems only to documents. Moreover, in the code there was a ban on carvers to leave impressions from the seals made so that they would not be forged.
Gemmas are wonderful works of art, they have preserved knowledge about the culture of the ancient world. Often they depicted copies of famous paintings and sculptures, many of which have not come down to us. Only intagli and cameos have retained their representation. Ancient gems depicted patron gods, athletes, actors, scenes of hunting, war and peaceful life, portraits of public figures, artists and writers.
Intaglia was a collectible already in the ancient world. Cameo, that is, a gem with a convex image, was considered only a luxury item. As a rule, these were women's jewelry: brooches, pendants, rings, whole necklaces were collected from them. The carving technique was gradually improved. Many gems were real amulets. This was especially common in the last centuries of the Roman Empire, when the pagan religion was replaced by Christianity.
In the East, gems were also valued, they played a large role in public life. In Iran, the shah, approving a courtier for a military, civil or priestly position, bestowed the regalia of power: a belt, a hat and a ring with a seal, which was necessarily put on business papers, orders and letters.
Persian and Arab historians have often detailed these rings. It was believed that a gem with an in-depth image can have mystical power and can change destinies. It was a very bad sign to break or just damage the stone.
In the Middle Ages, glyptics fell into decay, its further heyday fell on the Renaissance and continued until the middle of the 19th century. But even today, the convex gem can be used as an elegant feminine adornment.
Usually round or oval in shape, with cut out images. Distinguish between gems with embedded images (intaglio) and with raised bas-relief images (cameos).
The art of stone carving has been known since antiquity. In Ancient Mesopotamia, gems were made back in the 4th millennium BC. Gems were especially popular in Ancient Greece (from the 6th century BC) and Ancient Rome. In the Middle Ages, gems were used to decorate church utensils, books, and on the vestments of priests. Antique gems were worn in the form of fasteners on clothes, like medallions framed with precious metals. Often gems were decorated with signet rings. Gems were often used as seals, amulets.
Various materials are used in the manufacture of gems. Usually, for the lower layers of cameos, a darker material is taken, so that a carved image of a lighter stone stands out against its background. Sardonyx is often used, which has layers of different colors. Agate, hematite, garnets, and carnelian are also used in the production of gems.
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Literature
- Gems of the State Museum of Georgia. TT. I-V. - Tbilisi, 1954-1972.
- Neverov O. Ya./ Resp. ed. N. A. Sidorova. - M .: Nauka, 1982 (1983). - 144, p. - (From the history of world culture). - 185,000 copies(region)
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Excerpt from Gemma
The old countess, not letting go of his hand, which she kissed every minute, sat next to him; the rest, crowding around them, caught his every movement, word, glance, and did not take his eyes from him with rapturous love. Brother and sisters argued and took seats from each other closer to him, and fought over who to bring him tea, a handkerchief, a pipe.Rostov was very happy with the love that was shown to him; but the first minute of his meeting was so blissful that his present happiness seemed to him little, and he was still waiting for something else, and more, and more.
The next morning, the visitors slept from the road until 10 o'clock.
In the previous room lay sabers, bags, tashki, open suitcases, dirty boots. The cleaned two pairs with spurs have just been placed against the wall. Servants brought washstands, hot shaving water, and cleaned dresses. It smelled of tobacco and men.
- Hey, G "ishka, t" ubku! - Vaska Denisov's hoarse voice shouted. - Rostov, get up!
Rostov, rubbing his sticking eyes, raised his tangled head from the hot pillow.
- What's late? - It's late, 10 o'clock, - Natasha's voice answered, and in the next room there was the rustle of starched dresses, the whisper and laughter of girlish voices, and something blue, ribbons, black hair and cheerful faces flashed through the slightly opened door. It was Natasha with Sonya and Petya, who had come to visit, didn’t get up.
- Nikolenka, get up! - again Natasha's voice was heard at the door.
- Now!
At this time, Petya, in the first room, seeing and grabbing the sabers, and experiencing the delight that the boys feel at the sight of the warlike elder brother, and forgetting that it was indecent for the sisters to see naked men, opened the door.
- Is that your saber? He shouted. The girls jumped back. Denisov, with frightened eyes, hid his shaggy legs in the blanket, looking back at his comrade for help. Petya let the door in and closed again. Laughter was heard outside the door.
“Nikolenka, come out in a dressing gown,” said Natasha's voice.
- Is that your saber? - asked Petya, - or is it yours? - With obsequious respect he turned to the mustachioed, black Denisov.
Rostov hurriedly put on his shoes, put on his dressing gown and went out. Natasha put on one boot with a spur and climbed into the other. Sonya was spinning and was just about to inflate her dress and sit down when he came out. Both were in the same, brand new, blue dresses - fresh, ruddy, cheerful. Sonya ran away, and Natasha, taking her brother by the arm, led him into the sofa, and they began a conversation. They did not have time to ask each other and answer questions about thousands of little things that could be of interest only to them. Natasha laughed at every word that he said and that she said, not because what they were saying was funny, but because she was having fun and was unable to restrain her joy, which was expressed in laughter.
The word "glyptics" came into Russian from Greek. Literally translated, it means - "gouge" or "cut". Thus, the art of glyptics implies carving on ornamental, semi-precious and.
Glyptics is one of the oldest types of decorative and applied art, which required special knowledge and a high level of performance from the masters. Minerals with images carved on them are called gems. They have long been used as jewelry, seals, as well as talismans and amulets.
Types of gems
There are two types of gems, which differ in the peculiarities of the technique of execution:
- Intaglio- gems with an in-depth image.
- - precious or semi-precious stones with a convex, embossed image.
The difference between intaglios and cameos also lies in the fact that intaglios are monochromatic, and cameos are multi-colored and colorful. Both those and other types of gems have been used since ancient times for the manufacture of seals, jewelry, and decorative details for.
Features of making gems
Intaglio and cameos are made both on soft types of stones and on minerals of a high degree of hardness. All types of stones were processed by hand or using simple machines with rotating cutters. Among the soft types of stones, the following can be named, which are the most popular among the craftsmen:
- Steatite- This mineral is, in fact, a kind of dense talc. Steatite has many other names as well: wax stone, ice stone, talcochlorite, tulikivi (which means "hot stone" in Finnish), soapstone and wen.
Steatite seals - intaglios - Hematite Is a widespread iron mineral, one of the most important iron ores. Translated from Greek, the name of the mineral means "blood red". In common people, hematite is called red iron ore.
Brooch "Mirror Cameo" on hematite - Serpentine- This is the scientific name of the mineral popularly known as serpentine. A similar name was given to the stone for the fact that its color options are similar to the color of snakeskin.
Cameo - pendant "Tulips" from solid serpentine To create intaglios and cameos, the ancient craftsmen did not need too complex equipment. A set of durable cutters, a special machine and some types of abrasive substances, which were used to apply images to very hard types of minerals, were enough, among which the following can be called:
- Agate- is one of the varieties of quartz, and is a mineral with a banded color, which is often formed into an eye-shaped pattern. Very beautiful jewelry is made from agate.
Cameo - pendant "Goldfish" from solid agate - Cornelian- is one of the varieties of chalcedony. The mineral can be orange, yellow - brown, bright yellow, orange - red and pink - red.
Carnelian cameo "The Enchanted Castle" - Garnet - belongs to the group of minerals and represents transparent, very beautiful stones of dark and blood-red color - almadines and pyropes.
- Chalcedony- is one of the varieties of quartz. A translucent mineral can be colored in different colors, and each mineral is called in its own way: red - carnelian, brown - red - sardine, greenish - chrysoprase, blue - sapphirine, matte dark green with red stripes - heliotrope.
- Rhinestone- is pure silicon dioxide of natural origin. Due to the absolute transparency and high decorative properties of the mineral, it has long been used for the production of jewelry and luxury goods. Currently, ordinary, artificial crystal or specially processed glass can also be used for the manufacture of cameos and intaglios.
- Sardonyx- is a kind of the famous mineral onyx. Sardonyx is characterized by a coloration with alternating layers of reddish brown and white.
To work with these minerals, abrasives were used because ordinary metal tools were not suitable for processing them, since they could not even scratch their surfaces.
In addition, cameos and intaglios can be made on ivory, cut glass or marble.
Cameo "Girl" on marble Thus, glyptics is the art of carving on precious, semi-precious and ornamental stones. This is one of the oldest forms of art that has its origins in ancient times.
Many samples of relief images on minerals have survived to this day, because the exceptional strength of the material made them truly eternal works of art, on which time practically does not have its destructive effect.
Intaglio "Prelest" Intaglio in the form of seals was quite difficult to make, because the plot or drawing depicted on them had to appear in the opposite, mirror form. In addition, the products were, as a rule, of a very small size, so the master could be engaged in the manufacture of one intaglio for a long time.
Ancient glyptics
The skill of stone carving was already known to the Egyptians and Assyrians. The gems of Ancient Egypt, Sumer, Babylon and Assyria amaze with their grace and extraordinary beauty.
The oldest works of glyptics, created in Mesopotamia and Egypt, date back to the 4th millennium BC, which indicates a high level of development of crafts in these states. These were mainly seals - intaglios, the prints of which are compositions on mythical themes.
More ancient works of glyptics are also known. These are the famous gems of Urartu, created in the 9th-7th centuries BC. Iranian gems are also known, the manufacture of which dates back to the 6th-5th centuries BC.
The seals of Ancient Egypt usually took the form of a sacred beetle - a scarab. On their underside, hieroglyphs or images of mythical characters were carved. But on the gems of Crete (III-II millennium BC), portraits of people first appeared.
The art of glyptics reached its heyday in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. It was here that unique samples of products from precious and semiprecious stones were created, which today amaze with their grace and subtlety of work.
Greek gems often had the shape of a scarab borrowed from Egypt. In the 5th - 4th centuries BC, forms of antique glyptics developed, which are usually called classical. Gems of that time depicted figures of gods and heroes, animals and birds, as well as popular scenes from mythology.
Until the 4th century BC, the manufacture of intaglios was widespread - a kind of type of gems that gave convex mirror images on prints in soft wax or plastic clay.
And only the ancient Greek masters first mastered the art of making carved relief cameos, which became real works of painting in stone. In the Hellenistic era, the art of glyptics flourished not only in the mainland of the ancient Greek state, but also on individual islands - Cyprus, Samos, Chios, Melos, as well as in the Ionian cities. The beautiful cameos, skillfully executed by Greek stone carvers, were primarily used as jewelry.
During this period cameos from the multi-layered semi-precious stone sardonyx came into fashion. These products often reached considerable sizes. Therefore, such paintings in stone could well be used to decorate living quarters.
At the palaces of monarchs, portrait glyptics became extremely popular, some samples of which have survived to this day and gained worldwide fame. Among them can be called a cameo depicting the ruler of Egypt - King Ptolemy II.
Also widely known all over the world received "Cameo Gonzaga", on which were applied relief images of King Ptolemy II Philadelphus and his wife Arsinoe II. This work of carved art was made in the 3rd century BC. Today the cameo is kept in Russia, in the museum collection of the Hermitage. The Gonzaga cameo is made of three-layer sardonyx, and is a paired portrait of the royal spouses, who by their origin were brother and sister.
The cameo of Emperor Constantine, made of sardonyx in the 4th century AD, is of great interest for its artistic performance. Today this unique work is on display in the Hermitage Museum.
The subjects of the plots depicted by the most ancient masters are diverse and cover various spheres of life. In intaglios and cameos one can see the reflection of the spiritual and material world of our ancestors, their religious beliefs, the development of culture and the most important political events, as well as images of famous people of that time.
The beautiful appearance of the great commander Alexander the Great is also captured in a cameo of amazing beauty. At the moment, the unique piece is in the Paris Cabinet of Medals.
Famous masters of the art of glyptics
Almost every historical period has had its own remarkable masters of glyptics. The famous Greeks Agatop, Solon and Dioscurides worked in ancient Rome. In the Middle Ages, the art of glyptics developed in Byzantium, the Middle East and China.
In Western Europe, glyptics revived during the Renaissance, in which the leading role belonged to Italian masters. Among them are Bellini, Jacopo da Trezzo, who not only copied antique samples, but also created portraits of their contemporaries.
The last flowering of the art of glyptics was observed in the period from the 18th to the beginning of the 19th centuries, in the era of classicism. At that time, everyone was talking about the skill of the Italian carvers, Pichlers. In Germany there was the famous carver Nutter, and in France - Jacques Hue.
In Russia, the most famous carvers of this time were Esakov, Shilov and Dobrokhotov. In the 19th century, the art of glyptics again fell into decay, although people continued to admire and admire the works of ancient masters.
However, the coming XXI century has made its own adjustments, and carving on precious stones has again become a popular form of art. In particular, cameos and intaglios are very popular in jewelry these days.
Modern stone carvers in their art are in no way inferior to the most ancient masters - on the contrary, many modern tools and technologies have appeared in their arsenal, which greatly facilitate the process of processing stone, and applying the most delicate and graceful images to it.
