Marcus Aurelius and Faustina in one of four zones, 
* two white, and two of lilac. Many are wont to consi- 
der the finest works of art as insipid when not diversi- 
fied by colour ; but this objection is removed by the 
_ onyx, and it has hence been in great request both amo 
fas ancients and ourselves. Seipio- Atticattt, reat 
‘ing to Pliny, first brought it into notice. Engraved 
gems of two colours, as the onyx; are called cameos, a 
word of uncertain etymology. It is more or 
plied to such subjects as are in relief or elevated, 
all hollow vings are called intaglios, a name adopt- 
ed from the Italian, or in French en creux. Some artists 
are inclined to distinguish an onyx with a red ground 
as the cornelian onyx. The ancientsseem to have been 
well acquainted with blood stone, called heliotrope by 
them,.and on the continent at present, speckled agate. 
"There are two species in use with engravers, one of 
which has the und, of deep green irregularly 
sprinkled with specks, and not opaque. Tt is found 
in Siberia, Sicily, Germany, and likewise in Scotland, 
in considerable pieces, but of very unequal quality’; 
and the red which is thought to be iron, sometimes se- 
tes from the substance of the stone, Engravers 
ve here, as in the former instance, availed themselves 
of colour ; and M. Brard acquaints us, that there is 
a gem, though not antique, in the national library at 
Paris, representing the head of Christ under flagella- 
tion, where the crimson specks imitate the drops of 
blood, In the other species, the ks are so nume- 
rous, that at a little distance the whole stone appears 
of a reddish cast, Besides these, the art of engraving 
has been exercised on many other stones, even on some 
which, from. softness and the intermixture of colours, 
were ill adapted for it. 
icient na- Before alluding to the subjects represented by engra-~ 
which ying on stones, a few words may be said of the nations 
°” among which it was anciently practised ; and here it is 
natural. to expect the utmost diversity according to the 
progress of the arts. The Egyptians had Seah buts in 
intaglio and relief, but more commonly the former ; 
and those preserved are for the most part called scara- 
bei, from the figure resembling a beetle, consisting of 
green jasper, cornelian, and caleedony. The Jews per- 
red engraving from the Egyptians among 
whom they dwelt, and some notices respecting it are 
preserved in sacred writ, while describing the decora- 
tions of the high priest. Of the jewels which were in 
the ephod, Moses. was directed to take two onyx stones 
and grave on them the names of the children of Israel, 
six of their names 6n one stone, and the other six names 
of the rest on the other stone, according to their birth. 
With the work of an engraver on stone, like the en- 
gravings of a signet, shalt thou engrave the two stones 
with the names of the children of Israel.?* The 
Greeks, before the decline of their own country, and 
afterwards when their artists were under the patronage 
of the Romans, have been much more eminent for 
their gems than all the other nations.of antiquity. The 
most refined taste for the arts prevailed among them : 
they excelled alike in architecture, sculpture, and paint- 
ing ; and almost ‘y succeeding artist has. formed 
his works after, their ee hae hye seal-en- 
graving at. a remote period, though it-does not a 
__ to have been dake: for ne are told, that read 
of Solon prohibited engravers from keeping or making 
copies of seal-rings; and Mnesarchus, the father of 
jreek ar- Pythagoras, was a seal engraver. The names of man 
lebrated artists’are preserved on their works, whic 
M. Millin, a learned antiquarian, has endeavoured to 
arrange in. chronological, order F an undertaking of 
~ GE MS. : 
nides, 
125 
much difficulty, and one that can never be free of Gems. 
doubt. But the catalogue given by him of the Greeks 
and later engravers being long, we can only. make a 
brief’ excerpt from it.. Those who flourished anterior 
to the era of Alexander} he supposes, were Theodore: 
of Samos, who ved alyre on a famous emerald 
belonging to the king Polycrates, 750 years before 
Christ, which the owner, to ‘mortify himself, threw 
into, the sea; Mnesarchus, none of whose works are 
extant; Heius, Phrygillus, Thamytos. Pyrgoteles was 
cotemporary with Alexander, who is reported to have 
issued an edict prohibiting all other artists from engra- 
ving his effigy. Between the era of this sovereign and 
the stan age, are enumerated Admone, Apollo- 
ycletes, who was also’a statuary, Tryphon, 
whose period is well ascertained, and: others, They 
become still more numerous on descending later; Au- 
lus, Chronius, and cially. Dioscorides; to whom 
some of the most beautiful works. are ascribed, and 
who engraved the Roman emperor Augustus. Alpheus 
Ehvodus, Antiochus, Apolian, flourished in the age 
of his more immediate successors ;\ but the exact era of 
the. greater number cannot be ascertained. Some of 
the most celebrated of these are Aetian, Agathemeros, 
Allion, Apollodotus, said to be the first engraver who 
added his profession to his name ;'Pamphilus, whom 
some have supposed a pupil of Praxiteles, and who en- 
graved upon an amethyst Achilles playing on‘a lyre; 
Teucer, Carpus, and others, whose names would pro- 
tract the catalogue to-a great: length: Among the Ro- 
man artists, M. Millin includes all those whose-names 
do not appear of Greek origin, or.are written in Latin ; 
such as Aquilus, Felix, Quintillus, Rufus, and’a few, 
but not many more.. The Greeks still preserved their 
taste for engraving on fine stones during the earlier 
part of the darker ages; nor was it obliterated entirely 
from among the Romans. But the doctrines of Chris-. 
tianity, which gradually spread over the eastern and 
western empire, were adverse to the art, from discoun- 
tenancing images ; and those again being supplanted in 
the seventh century by the Mahometan religion, it may 
be said to have entirely disappeared. Here the history 
of ancient gems concludes; because the empire of the 
ancients was overrun by barbarians, the arts-sunk into 
insignificance, and those that had shone with the great- 
est arr were obscured in the gloom of ignorance. 
In retracing the qualities of the gems anterior to the 
first centuries- of Christianity, we find the Egyptians 
did not produce any works of excellence; their en- 
gravings.were principally symbolical, or representing 
rude figures of their divinities in partial humar shape, 
or the animals that they worshipped. The Jews are 
said only to have written names. The Etruscans pre« 
sent few if any works of skill, or of much interest. But 
what remains of Grecian workmanship, or that of the 
Romans in their zenith of refinement, exhibits beauty 
and perfection belonging to.no other people. Wherever 
the arts are patronised they flourish ; for mankind, al- 
ways guided by self-interest, will soon discover the way 
to celebrity. Many circumstances conspired to encou- 
rage engraving in Greece: The opportunity. of receiving 
the best materials from foreign nations; the historical 
events of their own advancement to power-; the va- 
riety, complication, and allurements of their religion, 
all contributed to afford an. infinite variety of interest. 
ing subjects, The taste for gems may be called origi- 
nal with the Greeks: Among other nations, it is rather 
to be deemed imitative, and to have beem introduced 
along with a taste for the various arts. The Greeks 
chose many interesting subjects; the heads of emis 
