2012.1.152: Intaglio: Hanging Figure Attacked by a Lion and Eagle, with Eros

Identification and Creation

Object Number

2012.1.152

Title

Intaglio: Hanging Figure Attacked by a Lion and Eagle, with Eros

Classification

Gems

Work Type

gem

Date

1st-4th Century

Period

Roman Imperial period

Culture

Roman

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/72425

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Stone

Technique

Intaglio

Dimensions

1.7 cm (11/16 in.)

Inscriptions and Marks

• inscription: Greek inscription in seven lines on the reverse,
  BΛAPΘA / P EIMI APAX/EIΘA / THN CVN / ΓEINOMEN / HN ΠVPI ΦAE / ΞA TE WC AP / BAΘAIPAC
  
  [Transcription:
  Βλαρθαρ ειμι Αραχθα τὴν συνγεινομένην πυρὶ φλέξατε ὡς Αρβαθαιρας.]
  
  [Translation, published in Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 53 (2013) by C. A. Faraone. "I am Blarthar Araxtha. Burn with fire the woman who is associating [i.e. with me] as would four-fold Iaô!]"

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History

Eleftherios Sossidi, Hamburg, (between 1955-65 - 1990's), sold; [through Sotheby's sale 7742, New York, December 7, 2001, lot 314]; to The Alice Corinne McDaniel Collection, Department of the Classics, Harvard University (2001-2012), transfer; to the Harvard Art Museums, 2012.

Note: E. Sossidi (1913-1992) worked in Cairo from 1958-1968.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Transfer from the Alice Corinne McDaniel Collection, Department of the Classics, Harvard University

Accession Year

2012

Object Number

2012.1.152

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Permissions

The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.

Descriptions

Description

Intaglio on an unidentified green-black stone. One side shows a nude, long-haired figure, hanging by the arms from a ring with horizontal bars on either side. An eagle attacks the figure on the left, and a lion with a torch approaches it on the right. In the field next ot the figure's left arm is a Greek inscription "ICH". In the field below, Eros stands on a short groundline, with bow and arrow pointed at the central figure's feet. Another symbol, like a mace, is in the lower right. On the other side is a Greek inscription in seven lines surrounded by a beveled edge.

Publication History

• Simone Michel, Die magischen Gemmen: Zu Bildern und Zauberformeln auf geschnittenen Steinen der Antike und Neuzeit, Akademie Verlag (Berlin, Germany, 2004), 266, no. 15.4 (as Sossidi 14), pl. 88.2.
• Christopher A. Faraone, "Notes on Some Greek Magical Gems in New England", Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies (2013), Vol. 53, 326-49, pp. 338-41, no. 5.

Verification Level