Cameo with portrait head of Germanicus
early 1st century A.D.
Medium/TechniqueSardonyx
DimensionsOverall: 2.2 x 3 x 0.7 cm (7/8 x 1 3/16 x 1/4 in.)
Credit LineHenry Lillie Pierce Fund
Accession number98.753
On View
Not on viewClassificationsJewelry / Adornment
Collections
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 “testa di Tiberio in fondo Sardonico mancante il collo, e busto alli quali è supplito con Oro, nel quale è legata.” 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 It was also copied in an unpublished 1949 treatise by archivist Giuseppe Felici titled "Vicende della collezione di gemme e medaglie dei Boncompagni Ludovisi."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. 31, pl. XXXIII, 1.
[4]Total price for MFA accession nos. 98.641-98.940.
15th century A.D.
1st–3rd century A.D.
1st century B.C. or 1st century A.D.
1st–3rd century A.D.
1st century A.D.
late 1st century B.C.–early 1st century A.D.
mid-1st century A.D.
1st century A.D.
late 1st century B.C.–mid 1st century A.D.
late 2nd–3rd century A.D.
