Gemme incise by Alessandra Magni
/ A. Magni, Intaglio con famiglia di tritoni, in Cristalli e gemme. Realtà fisica e Immaginario. Simbologia Tecniche e Arte, Atti del Convegno (Venezia, 28-30 aprile 1999), Venezia 2003, 431-436., 2003
A brief discussion about a famous engraved gem kept in Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Florence,. T... more A brief discussion about a famous engraved gem kept in Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Florence,. The intaglio depicts a family of see-centaurs and it could be related to Augistan propaganda.
Magni, Alessandra; Umberto Verdura; and Gabriella Tassinari. "Sub signo Capricorni. The Image of ... more Magni, Alessandra; Umberto Verdura; and Gabriella Tassinari. "Sub signo Capricorni. The Image of Capricorn in Glyptics: Literary Sources, Gemstones, Impressions, Drawings." Artl@s Bulletin 10, no. 1
(2021): Article 2.
in Atti del primo convegno interdisciplinare sul vetro nei beni culturali e nell’arte di ieri e di oggi, Parma, 27-28 Novembre 2008, Aula Magna - Università degli Studi di Parma, Parma 2009, pp. 97-116.
Cristalli e gemme, catalogo della mostra (Venezia 1999), Padova., 1999
The article provides a new interpretation for an engraved gem in amethist, formerly in the Medici... more The article provides a new interpretation for an engraved gem in amethist, formerly in the Medici collection, depicting a family of tritons. We suggest the gem represents the family of Octavian and Livia Drusilla, with the children Tiberius and Drusus; young Iulia is engraved in the intaglio as Amor, according to the origin of the gens Iulia. The gem engraving is related to the success of maritime themes in propaganda between Naulochum and Actium.
Vetro e alimentazione. XVIII Giornate Nazionali di Studio sul Vetro (Pavia 2015), ed. S. Ciappi, M.G. Diani, M. Uboldi,, 2017
In the Gem Collection of Museo Archeologico al Teatro Romano in Verona there is an interesting gl... more In the Gem Collection of Museo Archeologico al Teatro Romano in Verona there is an interesting glass scaraboid, yellow-
green, yet unpublished, which depicts a head of a bearded man in profile.
Other very similar glass scaraboids, with the same male head, are kept in Munich, Cambridge, Berlin and Jerusalem Gem
Collections. These glass scaraboids are under discussion: they might portray the statesman Kimon, or Philip II, king of
Macedonia, or even Hercules. Glass scaraboids were cheap substitutes for gemstones: not as common as the roman glass
gems, but quite as good, speaking about quality; they come, for the most part, from Aegean or eastern regions and were
crafted between 5th and 4th century B.C.
Alte vitrie, 18, 2019
A short presentation of ancient and modern glass intaglios in Museo Archeologico al Teatro Romano... more A short presentation of ancient and modern glass intaglios in Museo Archeologico al Teatro Romano of Verona.
in: "Glyptós. Gemas y camafeos greco-romanos : arte, mitologías, creencias", Madrid-Salamanca 201... more in: "Glyptós. Gemas y camafeos greco-romanos : arte, mitologías, creencias", Madrid-Salamanca 2018, pp. 83-121
Papers by Alessandra Magni
XX Giornate Nazionali di Studio sul Vetro (Genova 2020): La multidisciplinarietà nella ricerca sul vetro, 2022
This contribution presents the glass cameo collection (almost 25 items), now housed in the Museo... more This contribution presents the glass cameo collection (almost 25 items), now housed in the Museo Archeologico al Teatro
Romano in Verona MATR). First, the techniques for making moulded glass cameos in the late Hellenistic and early Imperial ages
are briefly illustrated, by discussing the most recent bibliography about these objects; the techniques are exemplified using
specimens from the Verona collection. Some significant pieces, grouped by iconography and style, are then analysed:
detailed cameos portraying deities and rulers, frontal heads, large series with mythological subjects.
Engramma 200, 2023
The contribution focuses on an engraved gem of the Roman Imperial Age, which is now kept in the M... more The contribution focuses on an engraved gem of the Roman Imperial Age, which is now kept in the Museo Archeologico al Teatro Romano of Verona. The red jasper belongs to the so-called grylloi or baskania group: it depicts a composition of masks of the Dionysian thiasos with an elephant's trunk. The text provides a detailed reading of the iconography, presents some comparisons and offers an interpretation of the intaglio, which had a protective function against the evil eye as well as an auspicious purpose for the owner.
keywords | gryllos; engraved gem; elephant; Dionysiac thiasos; Museo Archeologico al Teatro Romano di Verona
Routledge eBooks, Jan 11, 2023
Notae Numismaticae - Zapiski Numizmatyczne
Wyłączną odpowiedzialność za przestrzeganie praw autorskich dotyczących materiału ilustracyjnego ... more Wyłączną odpowiedzialność za przestrzeganie praw autorskich dotyczących materiału ilustracyjnego ponoszą autorzy tekstów. Authors of the texts bear the sole responsibility for observing the copyright illustrations. Wersją pierwotną Notae Numismaticae-Zapiski Numizmatyczne jest wersja elektroniczna. The electronic edition of the Notae Numismaticae-Zapiski Numizmatyczne is treated as its original version.
Rivista Friulana di Archeologia, 2022
The dove, the fish, the cross. Early Christian gems in the collection of the Museo Archeologico a... more The dove, the fish, the cross. Early Christian gems in the collection of the Museo Archeologico al Teatro Romano in Verona
This contribution presents a cameo and some intaglios of unknown provenance, now preserved in the
Museo Archeologico al Teatro Romano of Verona (MATR), whose subjects - inscriptions, figurative and
symbolic themes - are related to the glyptics used by early Christians. The work outlines some characteristics of early Christian production, focuses on the motifs of the dove, the fish, and the cross and analyses
an intaglio of complex meaning.
Animales en la glíptica greco-romana y en su tradicion clásica Animals in Graeco-Romam glyptic and in Its Classical Tradition, 2021
This contribution focuses on the images of animals hunting and preying in roman glyptics. A group... more This contribution focuses on the images of animals hunting and preying in roman glyptics. A group of unpublished intaglios and glass gems of unknown provenance, now housed in the Museo Archeologico al Teatro Romano of Verona, is presented and analysed.
XIX Giornate Nazionali di Studio sul Vetro Siti produttivi e indicatori di produzione del vetro in Italia dall’antichità all’età contemporanea, 2019
The contribution is a part of a more extensive study about the glass gem and paste workshops, in ... more The contribution is a part of a more extensive study about the glass gem and paste workshops, in antiquity and Modern age.
It aims to offer elements for the identification of glass gem workshop in antiquity, that are so difficult to recognize, both by analyzing some indicators for production and distribution (like the presence of unfinished pieces or row materials) and by comparing the organisation of modern workshops that created glass pastes.
The category of double categories and double functors is equipped with a symmetric closed monoida... more The category of double categories and double functors is equipped with a symmetric closed monoidal structure. For any double category A, the corresponding internal hom functor ⟦A, −⟧ sends a double category B to the double category whose 0-cells are the double functors A → B, whose horizontal and vertical 1-cells are the horizontal and vertical pseudotransformations, respectively, and whose 2cells are the modifications. Some well-known functors of practical significance are checked to be compatible with this monoidal structure.
The relationship between glyptics and the circulation of images can be analysed from different pe... more The relationship between glyptics and the circulation of images can be analysed from different perspectives, as seen in the case study of the image of Capricorn. The goatfish monster entered the European collective imagination during Antiquity, when its image was spread on gems and coins. The popularity of this theme in the Augustan Age is unquestionable but, over time, the political meanings associated with Capricorn seemed to have faded, while others appeared. These meanings were fully recovered by 17th century scholars through the analysis of famous cameos and lesserknown gems. However, the protective and magical value of gems with Capricorn has always been and still remains remarkable. Further insights and comparisons are provided by some unpublished Capricorn intaglios and glass gems housed in the collections of the Museo Archeologico al Teatro Romano (MATR) in Verona.
Alfonso Garovaglio: archeologo, collezionista, viaggiatore, ed. M. Uboldi, G. Meda Riquier, Como., 2010
As a part of a collective research, these chapters indagate the ancient intaglios and cameos, no... more As a part of a collective research, these chapters indagate the ancient intaglios and cameos, now in Museo Giovio in Como, collected by Alfonso Garovaglio. We describe the role of glyptics in Museo Garovaglio and recognised, from the old Inventory, isolated gemstones and rings. We put the Como gems in their iconographic and stilistic context; finally we discute about glass gems.
Engramma. La tradizione classica nella memoria occidentale, 170, 2019
This contribution originates from some intaglios and glass gems, kept in the Museo Archeologico a... more This contribution originates from some intaglios and glass gems, kept in the Museo Archeologico al Teatro Romano of Verona, belonging to the so called “propaganda” gems. This class of objects, created as seals and political distinction marks between the end of the Roman Republic and the Augustan age, is well known and studied; nevertheless the Verona gems offer some new insights.
The article emphasises the links between gems and coins, as iconographies, workshops, technics, but also the differences (gems and their impressions were personal marks). Continuation of themes, co-existence of different engraving styles, episodes or re-use of old stones should be considered, as the high presence, in every historical collection, of lots of unfinished glass gems, presumably found in workshop depots.
The selected intaglios in Verona Museum could explain some questions: among them, the use of the same iconography (on coins and gems) from more rulers; the Augustan attitude to incorporate the symbols of the losers, while their gems were hidden or broken; the surviving of Augustan symbols for a long time and their significance.
Books by Alessandra Magni
Stefan Krmnicek and Hadrien Rambach (eds), The Numismatic World in the Long Nineteenth Century – ... more Stefan Krmnicek and Hadrien Rambach (eds), The Numismatic World in the Long Nineteenth Century – vol. 2: Institutions and Individuals, London and New York, Routledge, 2023 (Studies in Cultural History), ISBN 9780367651831; 240 pp.
Table of Contents
1. Institutions and individuals—the numismatic world in the long 19th century: An introduction. 2. The coin collector Baron von Schellersheim (1752–1836). 3. Collectors and their coins—the sale of coins and medals at public auctions: The role that the Messrs. Christie played in the numismatic world in the early part of the ‘long 19th century’ (1766–1831). 4. Giacomo Verità, collector of coins and gems. 5. Domenico Promis (1804–1874), the Turin Royal Coin Cabinet and the birth of archaeological numismatics in Piedmont. 6. General Charles Richard Fox (1796–1873), coin collector. 7. From private collection to public museum—Nicola Bottacin (1805–1875), his numismatic collection and the birth of the Museo Bottacin of Padua (1865). 8. Western collectors of East Asian coins in the 19th century. 9. Chen Jieqi (1813–1884), a coin collector in 19th-century China. 10. A Collector at the periphery of the Austro-Hungarian Empire: Ormós Zsigmond (1813–1894). 11. Jan Pieter Six, a numismatist revisited. 12. Franciszek Piekosiński (1844–1906), his collection of ancient coins, the National Museum and 19th-century Krakow. 13. Greek and Swiss coins: Friedrich Imhoof-Blumer’s networks in two scientific communities. 14. The Spöttl collection in the Vienna Museum. 15. August Numismatist—Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia (1863—1919): Fate and legacy. 16. Collector and dealer at the end of the long 19th century: Calouste Gulbenkian and Jacob Hirsch.
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Gemme incise by Alessandra Magni
(2021): Article 2.
green, yet unpublished, which depicts a head of a bearded man in profile.
Other very similar glass scaraboids, with the same male head, are kept in Munich, Cambridge, Berlin and Jerusalem Gem
Collections. These glass scaraboids are under discussion: they might portray the statesman Kimon, or Philip II, king of
Macedonia, or even Hercules. Glass scaraboids were cheap substitutes for gemstones: not as common as the roman glass
gems, but quite as good, speaking about quality; they come, for the most part, from Aegean or eastern regions and were
crafted between 5th and 4th century B.C.
Papers by Alessandra Magni
Romano in Verona MATR). First, the techniques for making moulded glass cameos in the late Hellenistic and early Imperial ages
are briefly illustrated, by discussing the most recent bibliography about these objects; the techniques are exemplified using
specimens from the Verona collection. Some significant pieces, grouped by iconography and style, are then analysed:
detailed cameos portraying deities and rulers, frontal heads, large series with mythological subjects.
keywords | gryllos; engraved gem; elephant; Dionysiac thiasos; Museo Archeologico al Teatro Romano di Verona
This contribution presents a cameo and some intaglios of unknown provenance, now preserved in the
Museo Archeologico al Teatro Romano of Verona (MATR), whose subjects - inscriptions, figurative and
symbolic themes - are related to the glyptics used by early Christians. The work outlines some characteristics of early Christian production, focuses on the motifs of the dove, the fish, and the cross and analyses
an intaglio of complex meaning.
It aims to offer elements for the identification of glass gem workshop in antiquity, that are so difficult to recognize, both by analyzing some indicators for production and distribution (like the presence of unfinished pieces or row materials) and by comparing the organisation of modern workshops that created glass pastes.
The article emphasises the links between gems and coins, as iconographies, workshops, technics, but also the differences (gems and their impressions were personal marks). Continuation of themes, co-existence of different engraving styles, episodes or re-use of old stones should be considered, as the high presence, in every historical collection, of lots of unfinished glass gems, presumably found in workshop depots.
The selected intaglios in Verona Museum could explain some questions: among them, the use of the same iconography (on coins and gems) from more rulers; the Augustan attitude to incorporate the symbols of the losers, while their gems were hidden or broken; the surviving of Augustan symbols for a long time and their significance.
Books by Alessandra Magni
Table of Contents
1. Institutions and individuals—the numismatic world in the long 19th century: An introduction. 2. The coin collector Baron von Schellersheim (1752–1836). 3. Collectors and their coins—the sale of coins and medals at public auctions: The role that the Messrs. Christie played in the numismatic world in the early part of the ‘long 19th century’ (1766–1831). 4. Giacomo Verità, collector of coins and gems. 5. Domenico Promis (1804–1874), the Turin Royal Coin Cabinet and the birth of archaeological numismatics in Piedmont. 6. General Charles Richard Fox (1796–1873), coin collector. 7. From private collection to public museum—Nicola Bottacin (1805–1875), his numismatic collection and the birth of the Museo Bottacin of Padua (1865). 8. Western collectors of East Asian coins in the 19th century. 9. Chen Jieqi (1813–1884), a coin collector in 19th-century China. 10. A Collector at the periphery of the Austro-Hungarian Empire: Ormós Zsigmond (1813–1894). 11. Jan Pieter Six, a numismatist revisited. 12. Franciszek Piekosiński (1844–1906), his collection of ancient coins, the National Museum and 19th-century Krakow. 13. Greek and Swiss coins: Friedrich Imhoof-Blumer’s networks in two scientific communities. 14. The Spöttl collection in the Vienna Museum. 15. August Numismatist—Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia (1863—1919): Fate and legacy. 16. Collector and dealer at the end of the long 19th century: Calouste Gulbenkian and Jacob Hirsch.
(2021): Article 2.
green, yet unpublished, which depicts a head of a bearded man in profile.
Other very similar glass scaraboids, with the same male head, are kept in Munich, Cambridge, Berlin and Jerusalem Gem
Collections. These glass scaraboids are under discussion: they might portray the statesman Kimon, or Philip II, king of
Macedonia, or even Hercules. Glass scaraboids were cheap substitutes for gemstones: not as common as the roman glass
gems, but quite as good, speaking about quality; they come, for the most part, from Aegean or eastern regions and were
crafted between 5th and 4th century B.C.
Romano in Verona MATR). First, the techniques for making moulded glass cameos in the late Hellenistic and early Imperial ages
are briefly illustrated, by discussing the most recent bibliography about these objects; the techniques are exemplified using
specimens from the Verona collection. Some significant pieces, grouped by iconography and style, are then analysed:
detailed cameos portraying deities and rulers, frontal heads, large series with mythological subjects.
keywords | gryllos; engraved gem; elephant; Dionysiac thiasos; Museo Archeologico al Teatro Romano di Verona
This contribution presents a cameo and some intaglios of unknown provenance, now preserved in the
Museo Archeologico al Teatro Romano of Verona (MATR), whose subjects - inscriptions, figurative and
symbolic themes - are related to the glyptics used by early Christians. The work outlines some characteristics of early Christian production, focuses on the motifs of the dove, the fish, and the cross and analyses
an intaglio of complex meaning.
It aims to offer elements for the identification of glass gem workshop in antiquity, that are so difficult to recognize, both by analyzing some indicators for production and distribution (like the presence of unfinished pieces or row materials) and by comparing the organisation of modern workshops that created glass pastes.
The article emphasises the links between gems and coins, as iconographies, workshops, technics, but also the differences (gems and their impressions were personal marks). Continuation of themes, co-existence of different engraving styles, episodes or re-use of old stones should be considered, as the high presence, in every historical collection, of lots of unfinished glass gems, presumably found in workshop depots.
The selected intaglios in Verona Museum could explain some questions: among them, the use of the same iconography (on coins and gems) from more rulers; the Augustan attitude to incorporate the symbols of the losers, while their gems were hidden or broken; the surviving of Augustan symbols for a long time and their significance.
Table of Contents
1. Institutions and individuals—the numismatic world in the long 19th century: An introduction. 2. The coin collector Baron von Schellersheim (1752–1836). 3. Collectors and their coins—the sale of coins and medals at public auctions: The role that the Messrs. Christie played in the numismatic world in the early part of the ‘long 19th century’ (1766–1831). 4. Giacomo Verità, collector of coins and gems. 5. Domenico Promis (1804–1874), the Turin Royal Coin Cabinet and the birth of archaeological numismatics in Piedmont. 6. General Charles Richard Fox (1796–1873), coin collector. 7. From private collection to public museum—Nicola Bottacin (1805–1875), his numismatic collection and the birth of the Museo Bottacin of Padua (1865). 8. Western collectors of East Asian coins in the 19th century. 9. Chen Jieqi (1813–1884), a coin collector in 19th-century China. 10. A Collector at the periphery of the Austro-Hungarian Empire: Ormós Zsigmond (1813–1894). 11. Jan Pieter Six, a numismatist revisited. 12. Franciszek Piekosiński (1844–1906), his collection of ancient coins, the National Museum and 19th-century Krakow. 13. Greek and Swiss coins: Friedrich Imhoof-Blumer’s networks in two scientific communities. 14. The Spöttl collection in the Vienna Museum. 15. August Numismatist—Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia (1863—1919): Fate and legacy. 16. Collector and dealer at the end of the long 19th century: Calouste Gulbenkian and Jacob Hirsch.