Etruscan scarab with Prometheus
Price: on request
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Object number
AR3417B
| Object: |
Etruscan scarab with Prometheus
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| Material: |
Orange shimmering stone. Carnelian.
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| Period: |
400 BC to 300 BC. Classical antiquity. Late Etruscan. |
| Description: |
Scarab with a schematic top side of the beetle. A drill hole runs lengthways through the tall body and was used for threading. The bottom is flat and finely engraved. The imprint shows a naked person in frontal view, his head turned to the side. A cloak draped over the shoulder and hand, in the hanging hand is an object with three spikes at the end, possibly representing fire. The other arm is slightly bent and the hand stretched out. On it is a naked figure of half size with a head covering, one foot set forward. One hand hangs down and holds a staff, the other hand is raised. There is a snake and an unidentified insect on the ground. The entire scene is framed by an oval of diamonds. The main character in the depiction can be interpreted as Prometheus. According to ancient mythology, this god was the creator of human civilization. The scene on the scarab shows how he has just finished forming the first human being out of clay. The myth also tells that unfortunately errors were made. Those shall explain the suffering that humanity constantly inflicts on itself. The depiction of the finished figure is rare, as ancient artists usually preferred scenes with an unfinished figure in the process of being created. The masterful engraving of the piece immediately catches the eye. The scarab is a miniature work of art of the highest quality and a showpiece of late Etruscan glyptics. |
| Dimensions: |
16mm long, 13mm wide, 9mm high.
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| Condition: |
Museum worthy. Perfectly preserved apart from tiny chips. A modern imprint is not included.
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| Provenance: |
Acquired by us on the British art market in 2022. Previously privately owned by the Sangiorgi family in Switzerland. The scarab was added to the family collection by the well-known antiquities dealer Giorgio Sangiorgi (1886-1965). His gallery was located in the Palazzo Borghese in Rome until the inventory and private collection were transferred to Switzerland in the late 1930ies. In addition to the commercially traded art objects, Sangiorgi built a comprehensive collection of ancient gems, which he acquired in Europe between 1900 and 1939. He published numerous specialist articles on his gem collection.
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| Publication: |
J. Boardman, C. Wagner, Masterpieces in Miniature, Engraved Gems from Prehistory to the Present (London, 2018), p. 91, no. 79.
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| References: |
Boardman and Wagner refer to a similar example with an unfinished clay figure in Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC) VII 2 (1994), pl. 428, no. 85h.
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| Authenticity: |
We unconditionally guarantee the authenticity of every artefact, all items are subject to our lifetime return policy on authenticity.
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