Cameo: Head of a Woman (1–100 CE): Art, History and Details

Cameo: Head of a Woman (1–100 CE) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This carved amethyst cameo depicts a woman wearing a laurel wreath and a palla, a cloak worn by Roman noblewomen. The palla is tucked behind the woman’s ears and is visible over her right shoulder. She may have been a member of the Julio-Claudian imperial family or a wealthy private individual. In her hairstyle, straight nose, and small but full mouth the woman closely resembles portrait cameos identified as Antonia Minor, niece of the emperor Augustus and mother of the emperor Claudius. Only elite Romans could use amethyst; true purple stones had to be imported to Rome at great expense.

Object facts

• Title: Cameo: Head of a Woman
• Date: 1–100 CE
• Culture: Italy, Roman
• Type: Jewelry
• Technique: amethyst
• Dimensions: Overall: 4.6 cm (1 13/16 in.)
• Collection: GR - Roman
• Department: Greek and Roman Art
• Accession number: 1958.92

A detail from the museum

The metal setting is modern; this gem was likely originally a roundel.

Collection credit

Bequest of Leonard C. Hanna Jr.

Further reading listed by the museum

• Christie, Manson & Woods. Greek, Roman and Etruscan Antiquities, and Antique and Renaissance Gems, the Property of Humphrey W. Cook, Esq. ... Sir Francis Cook, Bart., July 14-15, 1925.
• Cleveland Museum of Art, and William Mathewson Milliken. In Memoriam: Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH. 1958.
• Vollenweider, Marie-Louise. Die Steinschneidekunst und ihre Künstler in Spätrepublikanischer und Augusteischer Zeit. Baden-Baden: Grimm, 1966.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.