A rare roman beryl intaglio set in a gold ring. Venus Pelagia on a Triton.

Early 1st century A.D.

Stone 15 x 19 mm; ring size 15 x 17 mm; 5,79 gr.

A female figure seated on the tail fin of the young, beardless Triton in the middle of the sea represented by incised wavy lines. She is naked except for the drapery covering her legs; she holds the triton’s fin with her right hand, while in the left one she holds a part of a mantle flying over her head. Her hair is braided around the head and tied in a bun at the nape. She wears a diadem. Triton holds the woman by his right hand in the gesture of carrying; as a son of Poseidon, he has a trident in his left. The subject is ancient and was popular in glyptics from the hellenistic period. The diademed female figure can be identified with a marine Venus (Venus Pelagia) rather than with a nereid. This subject is related to the Augustean ideological program and the victory of the battle of Actium by Augustus. Extraordinary testimony engraved on a precious stone of great rarity for ancient times. The gem is biconvex, deep cabochon, set in a 19th century collector’s gold ring. Slight internal cracks due to time, but the gem is solid. Wear marks.

Published: Pawel Golyzniak, Nereid of Venus? The impact of Augustus'"cultural programme" in the private sphere reflected in glyptics, fig. 1; L.P.B. Stefanelli, La Collezione Paoletti, vol. 1, n. 419 (Tomo I).

Provenance: from the collection of P. Altmann (Paris, 1960s).