34 ACCOUNTS, ESTIMATES, &C. OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 



intaglio, published in the Tiesor de Numismatique et de Glyptique, Iconographie Romaine, 

 pj. ]L fig. 10, and described by Charles Lenormant, ibid. p. 3, as a " chet d'ceuvre de la 

 glyptique des anciens," praise which is not too great for this beautiful intaglio. The genu- 

 ineness of the inscription, AIOSKOPIAOS, vvluth sliould have been AIOSKOPIAOY, has 

 been suspected. This gem is fiom the Barth Collection. 



(7.) Burnt carnelian. Livfa, with the attributes of Ceres, in a car drawn by elephants. 

 On the car is represented a combat of gladiators. 



(8.) Onyx. Portraits of Germanicus and Agrippina, held up by a Victory. Formerly 

 in the Albani Collection. 



(9.) Carnelian. Galba. 



(10.) Carnelian. Vespasian. 



(11.) Carnelian. Hadrian. 



(12.) Carnelian. Sabina, inscribed ANTIOXIC. Published in Bracci, Memorie d. 

 Ant. Incis. i. pi. 22. Lettre de R. Rochette a M. Schorn, p. 30. 



(13.) Carnelian. Heads of Commodus and Hercules, side by side. Commodus wears the 

 lion's skin of Hercules. 



(14.) Niccolo. Caracalla ; on the reverse, Plautilla ; with a curious Latin abbreviated 

 inscription round each head, which Visconti and Lenormant have both essayed to read, 

 but neither veiy successfully. 



(15.) Onyx, two layers, nearly 2 inches by 1| inches. Called Caracalla, but the style 

 of this intaglio seems later than that Emperor's time. From the Biirth Collection. 



(16.) Sard. Head of Gordian. On the reverse, a sun-dial placed on a column, from 

 which hangs a sword ; in the field, a shield and the inscription A .FOL. 



(17.) Red jasper. Heads of Carinus and Magnia Urbica facing each other. 



(18.) Red jasper. Male and female heads facing each other, between them two joined 

 hands grasping a poppy head and ears of corn. These have been called Silanus and 

 Messalina, hut the character of the male head and of the head-dress of the female suggests 

 a later period. 



Besides these Regal and Imperial portraits in intaj»lio, are several which may be 

 recognized, with more or less of certainty, as the portraits of celebrated persons. Among 

 them the following may be particularly noticed : 



(1.) Topaz. The poet Horace. In the field a laurel branch and the initial letter H. 

 This portrait resembles that of the same poet on a bronze contorniate medal, and is probably 

 of a much later peiiod than the Augustan age. From the Barth collection. 



(2.) Carnelian. Head, attributed to Herodes Atticus. 



(3.) Carnelian. Head of Posidonius. Visconti, Iconographie Grecque, pi. 24, No. 3. 



The foregoing selection from the Blacas intaglios comprises those most remarkable for 

 beauty of art or historical interest, and the scarabaei, which are specially deserving of 

 notice from their high antiquity and the archaic character of their work. 



Among the numerous gems not included under these heads will be found many of great 

 interest on account of their subjects or inscriptions, such as the following : — 



(l.) Carnelian set in an ancient gold ring. Mounted hunter with two hounds, one 

 of which is inscribed XPYCIC This stone has been broken, but is engraved entire in 

 Maffti, "Gemme Figurate," iv., pi. 71, pp. 116, 117, in whose plate AYPA, doubtless the 

 name of the second hound, appears on the gem. In the Onomasticon of Pollux, V. 45, Aura 

 is given as the name of a hound. This intaglio once belonged totiie gem engraver Sabbatini, 

 and afterwards passed into the Strozzi Collection. It is published in Montfaucon, An- 

 tiquite Expliquee, t. iii., p. ii, pi. 175, fiy. 2, p. 322 ; in Gori, Mus. Flor. ii. pi. 82, fig. 3 ; 

 and in Raspe, Catal. of Tassie, No. 2,251, p. 163. See also Kbhler, voL iii. pp. 65 and 

 264, note 237. 



(2.) Banded sard. Meleager attacking the Calydonian boar in the reeds. 



(3.) Tiiangular amulet in carnelian. On one side Eros and Anteros, on the reverse two 

 Sirens, one playing on the lyre, the other on the double flute. This gem, the form of 

 which is peculiar, was found at Athens, and is engraved, Stackelberg, Graber d. Hellenen, 

 pi. Ixxiv., figs. 7, 8, 9. 



(4.) Black agate. Horse grazing. Below, Arabic inscription, added subsequently. 



(5.) Niccolo. Lion looking to the front. A curious instance of dexterous foreshortening. 



(6.) The subjects of a number of gems relate to the theatre or public games. There is 

 an interesting collection of comic masks, among which may be especially mentioned a mask 



of 



