Portraits of Ptolemy II and Arsinoe II (The Gonzaga Cameo)

    Named after its Renaissance owners, the Gonzaga family, dukes of Mantua, this cameo is perhaps one of the most famous monuments of Classical Antiquity. In glyptics (miniature carving on coloured stones), cameos ((gems carved in relief on multi-layered colour stones) first appeared during the Hellenist period (late 4th - 1st centuries BC). The centre of production was Alexandria in Egypt and it was an Alexandrian master of the 3rd century BC who carved this work on a large piece of Arabian sardonyx, playing on all the stone's inherently painterly qualities. In this paired portrait of Ptolemy II Philadelphus with his wife and sister Arsinoё II, deified rulers of Egypt, the engraver, like the poet Theocritus, likened the subjects to the "rulers of Mount Olympus", the brother and sister Zeus and Hera who concluded a "holy marriage". The manly and passionate face of the ruler contrasts with Arsinoё's calm, classically correct profile. The two faces are carved in the middle, lighter layer of agate, from beneath which we can see the third, greyish layer shining through and forming a background, which creates an effect as if Arsinoe's face were in the shade. The hair, helmet and shield (aegis) of Ptolemy/Zeus are set in the upper, brown layer of stone, its light incrustations used to pick out the rosette on the helmet and also the heads of Medusa and Phobos (personification of Fear) on the shield. Large cameos of agate - a material harder than steel - took several years to produce and were thus extremely expensive. The Gonzaga Cameo is a marvellous example of the luxury of Ptolemy's court. It must have served as an object of adoration and a symbol of the cult of these new ruler-gods. (from Hermitage Museum site)

    Date
    3rd century BC
    Culture
    Medium
    Dimensions
    15.7 x 11.8 cm
    Location
    Hermitage Museum Inv. ГР-12678
    Image Credit

    PSI XI 1217

      From PSI online:

      The papyrus comes from excavations conducted by E. Breccia at Behnesa (Kom Ali-el-Gammâm) in the spring of 1932. It was possibly part of the private library of the family of Sarapion, the so-called "Apollonian." We are dealing with four fragments belonging to two rolls by different hands. Within the text are sone additions and corrections by another hand.

      The text was edited with a photograph, together with the fragments of PSI XI 1218, by G. Vitelli “Nuovi frammenti degli Αιτια di Callimaco,” in ASNP Ser. II, III, 1934, pp. 1-7. 

      Bibliography: (1217 a-b) Pack2 195; A. Körte, “Literarische Texte mit Ausschluss der christlichen. Nr. 792, 793”, in Archiv XI, 1935, pp. 225-227; V. Bartoletti, “Die italianische Papyrusforschung der letzten zehn Jahre”, in Lipz.Roman.Stud III/2, 1937, p. 47 (= V. Bartoletti, “Scritti 1933-1976” I,1, Pisa 1993, p. 47); L. Torraca, “Il prologo dei Telchini e l’inizio degli Aetia di Callimaco” (Collana di studi greci 48), Napoli 1969, pp. 7-10, 21-79; M. Campbell, “Three Notes on Alexandrine Poetry. C. Callimachean leptotes: Aetia fr. I,29f.”, in Hermes 102, 1974, pp. 44-46; K. Töchterle, “Die “μεγάλη γυνή” des Mimnermos bei Kallimachos”, in RhM NF 123/3-4, 1980, pp. 225-234; D. Marcotte, P. Mertens, “Les papyrus de Callimaque”, in M. Capasso, G. Messeri Savorelli, R. Pintaudi (a cura di), “Miscellanea Papyrologica in Occasione del Bicentenario dell’Edizione della Cartha Borgiana. Premessa di Marcello Gigante” (Pap.Flor. XIX), Firenze 1990, p. 415, nr. 195; A. Harder, “Aspects of the structure of Callimachus’ Aetia” in M.A. Harder, R.F. Regtuit, G.C. Wakker (a cura di), “Callimachus” (Hellenistica Groningana 1), Groningen 1993, pp. 99-110; G. Massimilla, “Callimaco fr. 115 Pf.” in ZPE 95, 1993, p. 33; G. Massimilla, “L’invocazione di Callimaco alle cariti nel primo libro degli Aitia (fr. 7,9-14 Pf.)”, in Adam Bülow-Jacobsen (a cura di), “Proceedings of the 20th International Congress of Papyrologists, Copenhagen, 23-29 August 1992”, Copenhagen 1994, pp. 322-325; E. Lelli, “La polivalenza simbolica dell’opposizione asino/cicala nel prologo degli Aitia di Callimaco (fr. 1, 29 ss. Pf.)”, in Seminari romani di cultura greca 4, 2001, pp. 245-252; P. Orsini, “Papiri Letterari della Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana”, CD-Rom, Cassino 2002, scheda nr. 226. 

      Fragments a-b are from the same roll as P.Oxy. XVII 2079, XVIII 2167, e XIX, pp. 147-149.

      Type
      Image
      Agent
      Date
      2nd century AD
      Medium
      Dimensions
      fr. a: cm 5.3 x 5.4; fr. b: cm 7.3 x 10; fr. c: cm 4.4 x 6.2; fr. d: cm 4.2 x 6.3
      Location
      Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana
      Image Credit