718 CAMEOS. 



own ground. In the case of the vases, however, the procedure has 

 been different, the reliefs have not been cast, as WedgcAvood reliefs 

 are for instance, and then stuck on, neither have they been cast in one 

 piece Avith the darker glass of the ground, but the vase has been made 

 in the dark glass first, then dipped in white glass so as to be entirely 

 coated with it. The vase has then been treated exactly as if it was a 

 stone and the cameo cutter has cut the glass in the same manner as he 

 would an onyx. None of these cut glass vases have now a high polish, 

 but it is possible that they originally had, as some of the glass 

 placques of similar workmanship and about the same date are 

 polished. 



After the Byzantine period until the Renaissance, i. e., until the 

 fifteenth century, there is a lack of consecutive art in the direction of 

 cameo cutting. The Byzantine cameos are not remarkable for beauty 

 in design or execution. They are largely cut in bloodstone, the 

 peculiar coloration of Avhich was peculiarly fitted for representations 

 of the crucifixion. 



Christian designs prevailed as a rule until the end of the fifteenth 

 century, when the Renaissance began, and classical designs in their 

 turn replaced those taken from biblical sources. 



The earliest great patron of cut gems of the Renaissance period was 

 Cardinal Bembo, afterwards Pope Paul II, who made a fine collec- 

 tion. He is said to have so loaded his fingers with rings set with 

 gems that they chilled him to death. His collection was largely 

 acquired by Lorenzo dei Medici, called the " Magnificent," who ruled 

 in Florence during the latter half of the fifteenth century. The re- 

 vival of the arts which took place in the fifteenth century is generally 

 considered to have been largely due to the patronage of this great 

 Italian. He had many of his gems engraved with his name. The 

 Medici collection is now dispersed chiefly between the Museums of 

 Naples, Florence, and Paris. 



Renaissance cameos are remarkable for the technical skill displayed 

 upon them and the beauty of their settings, Benvenuti Cellini is 

 credited with two settings for cameos now at Paris. Although the 

 general level is high, there are no r(>ally great cameos of the Renais- 

 sance period. It was indeed a revival of the art only, and does not 

 add anything new to the existing styles. There were iimuuierabk' 

 imitations made of antiques, many of them most skillfully. Names 

 of celebrated engravers were frequently added both to inferior an- 

 tiques and to new gems, but cameos have fortunately not suffered 

 nearly so nuich from fraudulent imitations as their cousins, the in- 

 taglios. 



From the sixteenth century to the present time shells liave been 

 largely used for small cameos. It is, technically, a different art from 



