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Cameo with portrait bust of Tiberius
Roman
Imperial Period
early 1st century A.D.
Medium/Technique
Carnelian
Dimensions
Overall: 3.3 x 3.9 x 1 cm (1 5/16 x 1 1/2 x 3/8 in.)
Overall (gem, as preserved): 2.2 x 2.8 cm (7/8 x 1 1/16 in.)
Overall (gem, as preserved): 2.2 x 2.8 cm (7/8 x 1 1/16 in.)
Credit Line
Henry Lillie Pierce Fund
Accession Number98.757
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsJewelry, Ancient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsJewelry / Adornment – Cameos
DescriptionReddish-orange carnelian. Cameo, in modern gold setting. A bust of the second Roman emperor Tiberius (reigned AD 14-37), in profile to the right, wearing a laurel wreath. The lower part of the cameo is broken, and filled in with gold. There are chips along all edges of the cameo.
ProvenanceProbably Cardinal Francesco Boncompagni (b. 1596 - d. 1641), Rome [see note 1]; by descent to Prince of Piombino, Gregorio Boncompagni Ludovisi (b. 1642 – d. 1707), Rome [note 2]. By 1892, Michal Tyszkiewicz (b. 1828 - d. 1897), Rome [note 3]; June 8 - 10, 1898, posthumous Tyszkiewicz sale, Hotel Drouot, Paris, lot 276. 1898, Edward Perry Warren (b. 1860 - d. 1928), Rome and London; 1898, sold by Warren to the MFA for $69,618 [note 4]. (Accession Date: September 20, 1898)
Notes:
[1]Most of the Boncompagni Ludovisi collection of gems was formed by Cardinal Francesco Boncompagni in the 17th century. However it is possible that his heir, Girolamo Boncompagni (b. 1622 - d. 1684), added to the collection. Upon his death in 1684, Girolamo willed his collection to the Ospedali della Vita e della Morte in Bologna. The family heir, Gregorio Boncompagni, disputed the will and eventually got the gem collection back (see https://villaludovisi.org/2013/05/22/new-from-1706-an-inventory-and-cash-assessment-of-coins-and-medals-in-the-museo-boncompagni-ludovisi-part-ii-of-ii/).
[2]The cameo is described in a 1706 inventory of the Boncompagni Ludovisi collection as “Corniola con testo di Tiberio rilevata legata in oro col fondo alquante agranato da una parte.” Several copies of this inventory exist in different archives, including in the private family archive of the Boncompagni Ludovisi. It was also copied in an unpublished 1949 treatise by archivist Giuseppe Felici titled "Vicende della collezione di gemme e medaglie dei Boncompagni Ludovisi."
[3]Wilhelm Froehner, La Collection Tyszkiewicz (Munich, 1892), p. 32, pl. XXXIII, 6.
[4]Total price for MFA accession nos. 98.641-98.940.
Notes:
[1]Most of the Boncompagni Ludovisi collection of gems was formed by Cardinal Francesco Boncompagni in the 17th century. However it is possible that his heir, Girolamo Boncompagni (b. 1622 - d. 1684), added to the collection. Upon his death in 1684, Girolamo willed his collection to the Ospedali della Vita e della Morte in Bologna. The family heir, Gregorio Boncompagni, disputed the will and eventually got the gem collection back (see https://villaludovisi.org/2013/05/22/new-from-1706-an-inventory-and-cash-assessment-of-coins-and-medals-in-the-museo-boncompagni-ludovisi-part-ii-of-ii/).
[2]The cameo is described in a 1706 inventory of the Boncompagni Ludovisi collection as “Corniola con testo di Tiberio rilevata legata in oro col fondo alquante agranato da una parte.” Several copies of this inventory exist in different archives, including in the private family archive of the Boncompagni Ludovisi. It was also copied in an unpublished 1949 treatise by archivist Giuseppe Felici titled "Vicende della collezione di gemme e medaglie dei Boncompagni Ludovisi."
[3]Wilhelm Froehner, La Collection Tyszkiewicz (Munich, 1892), p. 32, pl. XXXIII, 6.
[4]Total price for MFA accession nos. 98.641-98.940.