Tag Archives: Gems

  • ROMARCH: Oxford Workshop on the Arundel Sculptures

    27 March, 2013

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    Thomas Howard, Second Earl of Arundel

    THE ARUNDEL SCULPTURES: NEW INSIGHTS

    A Workshop Organized by the Ashmolean Museum and the Classical Art Research Centre, Oxford

    Monday 20th May, 2013, Ashmolean Museum

    To celebrate the reinstallation of the Arundel Marbles in the Ashmolean Museum’s Randolph Gallery, the Museum and the Classical Art Research Centre are collaborating to hold a workshop that re-examines the history of the Arundel collection and its individual sculptures. The day is aimed at students, academics, and anyone with relevant research interests.

    The workshop will offer a fresh introduction to the collection from Oxford specialists, an explanation of the new installation by the Project Curator responsible, and the opportunity to examine selected sculptures at very close quarters, in small groups, outside normal museum opening hours. Sculptures to be studied will including works that have not been on display for many years.

    To book a free place or for further information, please contact carc@classics.ox.ac.uk or call 01865 278083. Places are limited, so please book early. Click below for the provisional programme. Continue reading →

  • ROMARCH: Oxford Exhibition; Engraved Gems and the Classical Tradition

    5 January, 2013

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    Engraved Gems and the Classical Tradition A new exhibition in the Upper Library at Christ Church, Oxford.

    Although gems are modest in size, gem engraving was a major art in antiquity. From the Renaissance on Greek and Roman intaglios and cameos were collected, observed and copied. Scholars could learn about the appearance of gem subjects through publications, often initiated by their almost obsessive collectors, but also through the expanding production of impressions and casts of gems in a variety of materials. This exhibition will give examples of a wide range of these, from sealing wax to glass paste. It will also show a number of original gems. Books on engraved gems of the 17th to 19th centuries from the Christ Church Library are illustrated with impressions, electrotypes and casts from Oxford’s Beazley Archive, and intaglios and cameos from private collections.

    A highlight in the exhibition is a sardonyx from the collection of the Earl of Carlisle. The cameo was engraved by Alexander Cesati (1510-64), and shows Cupid taming a lion in the presence of two nymphs. Continue reading →