CAMEOS. 



719 



the ciittino- in hard stone, and is executed more after the fashion of a 

 wood carving, as the shell is comparatively soft. 



Queen Elizabeth caused her portrait to be cut in cameo several 

 times; some of these have no doubt been executed by Julien de Fonte- 

 nay, called " Coldore." 



In later times Italian artists have most notably followed the pro- 

 fession of cameo cuttiuir. Flavio Sirletti, in the eighteenth century, 

 is said to have nearly reached the Greek perfection of technique, 

 (xiovanni Pichler and Sirletti, too, cut some cameos with the diamond 

 point alone as an experiment. Jean Laurent Natter, of Nuremberg, 

 iionrished in the same century ; he was particularly successful in his 

 imitations of the antique, and in all probability numbers of so-called 

 " Grseco-Roman gems '' are really his work. He made a catalogue 

 of the Bessborough gems, afterwards part of the jNIarlborough collec- 

 tion, and he also wrote a valuable treatise on the ancient and modern 

 systems of engraving and cutting gems in hard stones. 



Alessandro Cesati, called " II Greco," was noted for his fine drafts- 

 manship. Madame de Pompadour learned the art of gem cutting 

 from the French artist, Jacques Guay, who nuule cameo portraits of 

 her, Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, and others. Guay could hardly 

 write, and it is supposed that the signatures in his cameos were cut l)y 

 someone else. 



In the nineteenth century the decline in the popularity of cameos 

 has been marked; indeed, although there are several names of known 

 artists sometimes who have them, that of Benedetto Pistrucci alone 

 has reached a point of eminence. Pistrucci came here from Rome 

 early in the century, and eventually became chief engraver to the 

 royal mint. lie designed the beautiful group of St. George and the 

 Dragon, which is still used on the reverse of some of our coins now in 

 circulation. He wrote an interesting autobiography, in which he 

 tells the story of a he;id of Flora, cut by himself, which was sold to 

 Mr. Richard Payne-Knight as an antique. Pistrucci showed his 

 mark on the gem, but Mr. Payne-Knight disbelieved the story. 



