Description

Dating back to the end of the sixteenth century, this ring features an ancient gold setting coeval with the oval and slightly concave cameo in three-layer agate that is set inside. The cameo is engraved in bas-relief with three hazelnut-colored figures standing out against a dark brown background: this is the dispute between Athena and Poseidon for the patronage of the future city of Athens, a rare theme to find in the field of glyptic. On the left it is possible to see the heroic figure of Poseidon, shown as a powerful man, portrayed naked and bearded, seated in a contorted pose while his right arm holds a trident – his identifying attribute – facing downwards and his left arm, raised towards the sky, turns towards Athena in a gesture of defiance. In the centre stands the peculiar image of the horse, a gift from Poseidon, which occupies the vertical axis of the composition and is shown in foreshort, while its crossed hindquarters in the foreground create a surprising perspective effect. On the right, however, it is possible to see the ethereal and suspended figure of Athena, who wears a finely draped tunic and, with the typical helmet, advances on the left brandishing her shield adorned with the Gorgoneion in the foreground; peculiar is the presence of a young olive tree near the feet of the goddess, a gift from Athena herself. The myth of the foundation of Athens to which the above depiction refers is narrated by Herodotus (Histories, VIII, 55), Apollodorus (Library, III, 14, 1), Ovid (Metamorphoses, VI, 70-82) and Pausanias (Description of Greece, I, 24, 5). The representation of the quarrel in the glyptics was the subject of Hadrien Rambach's seminal study ("Reflections on the gems depicting the contest of Athena and Poseidon", in C. Entwistle and N. Adams (eds.), "Gems of Heaven", British Museum Research Publication 177, London, 2011, pp. 274-285), which distinguishes two families: the "Parthenon" type (the clashing gods,  derived from the western pediment) and the "Medici" type (the peaceful scene centred on the olive tree), which takes its name from the famous Hellenistic cameo in Naples (National Archaeological Museum, Inv. 25837/5). In the case of the aforementioned cameo it is possible to read the "Medici" version of the myth, although it is original compared to other cases since the central axis is occupied not by Athena's olive tree, but by Poseidon's horse with its magnificent head turned towards the viewer. This choice determines the change in the hierarchy of myth by placing the gift of the defeated god at the center of the construction of the scene, demonstrating on the part of the engraver a perfect mastery of perspective and miniaturist modeling: a similar example of the setting of the horse can be seen in the cameo in sardonyx by Niccolò Amastini, preserved at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg (Inv. K 1774).

Period: Late 16^th century

Provenance: Italy

Ring size: 7 ¾ 

Dimension: 2,9 x 2,1 cm

Weight: 5,9 gr