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Antique Italian Onyx Cameo of the Lovers, Angelica and Medoro
from Ariosto’s widely popular epic poem, Orlando furioso (1516 - 1532).
Angelica has saved the wounded Saracen knight and they carve their names into a tree as they elope to Cathay. Winged Eros lights their progress with his torch. The composition is recognizable from illustrated editions of the poem, the subject popular in Romantic paintings of the 17th & 18th Centuries.
late 17th - 18th Centuries, in a 19th Century gold mount.
height: 33 mm. (1 5/16 in.)
width: 25 mm (1 in.)
#4374
ex: private American collection, by 1992
Published:
Antiquarium Ltd.; Ancient Treasures XIV. (New York, 2016) p.41
Comparanda:
Brown, Clifford Malcolm (ed.); Engraved gems Survivals & revivals (Washington DC, 1997) p.299, fig.17
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York acc. no. 1982.60.46