Long before precious stones were cut into facets to make them sparkle, the craftsmen of antiquity engraved them. On a small surface of carnelian, jasper, agate or crystal they carved figures of gods, animals, heroes, portraits and symbols. This art is called glyptic, from the Greek glyphein, "to engrave". It is a fascinating chapter in the history of stones, because here the gem is not only precious material but the bearer of an image and an identity.
Intaglio and cameo
Engraved gems fall into two great families:
- the intaglio, in which the figure is cut into the stone, in negative. Pressed into wax or clay, it leaves an impression in relief. It is the typical form of the seal;
- the cameo, in which the figure projects in relief from the surface. It often exploits stones with layers of different colours, such as onyx or sardonyx, so that the light figure stands out against a dark ground.
The intaglio was born for a practical use, the seal; the cameo was born above all as an object of prestige and ornament.
The seal: an identity in stone
The origin of glyptic art is tied to the need to sign, guarantee and protect. In Mesopotamia, as early as the fourth millennium BC, cylinder seals spread: small engraved stone cylinders which, rolled over fresh clay, left a continuous scene. They were used to seal jars, storeroom doors, tablets and contracts. Each seal identified its owner.
The scenes engraved on Mesopotamian seals are often religious: enthroned deities, presentation scenes, heroes fighting animals. The seal was not only a signature but also a sign of protection: the divine image placed on goods or a document entrusted it to a higher power.
In Egypt seals often took the form of the scarab, with its flat base engraved. In the Greek and Roman world the signet ring, with its set gem, prevailed.
The seal as the person
In the ancient world the seal was almost an extension of the person. Whoever held someone's seal could act in his name. For this reason the choice of image was important and revealed much about its bearer.
The historian Suetonius relates that the emperor Augustus used three different seals in succession: first a sphinx, then the portrait of Alexander the Great, and finally his own portrait, engraved by the artist Dioscurides, which his successors continued to use. The sequence is eloquent: from the enigma, to the heroic model, to one's own identity. It can be read as the path of a person who finally finds his own image.
Pliny the Elder further reports that Alexander the Great had forbidden anyone except the engraver Pyrgoteles to portray him on a gem. The ruler's image was too important to be left to just any hands.
The great cameos
In the Hellenistic and Roman periods cameos reached extraordinary size and complexity. The Gemma Augustea, kept in Vienna, is a two-layered onyx cameo showing Augustus enthroned beside the goddess Roma, being crowned, while in the lower register soldiers raise a trophy. It is a political and religious manifesto carved in stone: victory, peace and the divinisation of the ruler.
Gems as talismans
Many engraved gems also had a protective or religious function. Figures of deities, symbolic animals and astral signs were chosen for their meaning. In late antiquity gems with enigmatic figures and inscriptions spread, such as the figure of Abraxas with a cockerel's head and serpent legs, linked to religious and magical milieus of the Graeco-Egyptian world.
Later lapidaries spoke a great deal of "images" engraved in stones and of their capacity to give the gem a particular meaning. Beyond the beliefs, a strong symbolic idea remains: stone, a durable material, preserves the image and makes it permanent.
Rediscovery in the Renaissance
In the Middle Ages many ancient gems were reused to adorn reliquaries, crosses and the bindings of sacred books, sometimes with their figures reinterpreted: a pagan deity could become a saint. In the Renaissance engraved gems became objects of passionate collecting. Lorenzo de' Medici gathered many and had the initials of his name engraved on some of them, as a mark of ownership and prestige.
Symbolic meanings
| Element | Meaning |
|---|---|
| seal | identity, authority, guarantee |
| divine image | protection, entrustment to a power |
| durable stone | permanence of the image over time |
| layered cameo | light emerging from darkness |
| choice of subject | what the person wishes to be |
An image of oneself
Glyptic art invites reflection on a simple question: what image do we choose to represent ourselves? Augustus changed three before finding his own. Every seal is a declaration: this is who I am, this I guarantee, this I protect. Engraving an image in stone means entrusting it to duration, making it able to leave an impression.
In short
- Glyptic art is the art of engraving gems, as intaglio (cut in) or cameo (in relief).
- It began with Mesopotamian cylinder seals, signs of identity and protection.
- Augustus used in turn a sphinx, the portrait of Alexander and his own as his seal.
- Engraved gems were talismans, political manifestos such as the Gemma Augustea, and Renaissance collector's pieces.
