Cameo

Unknown

2nd century B.C.

Banded agate, Agate

J. Paul Getty Museum

A cameo features two profile portraits of men carved from banded agate. The man on the left is white with a beard and curly hair, while the man on the right is dark brown with curly hair and a laurel wreath. Carved in cameo technique is a double portrait of two heads facing left. The foreground figure in dark stone is a beardless male wearing what resembles a radiate crown. It recalls the spiky crown worn by Roman emperors, but the head does not readily match any known portrait. Carved behind him in white is the head of a bearded male with rugged features resembling a typical depiction of Hercules. The gem has been drilled through lengthwise as though once suspended or mounted. Spier, Jeffrey, et al., eds. Beyond the Nile: Egypt and the Classical World, exh. cat. (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2018), pp. 5, 192-3, no. 131, ill., en