Object Description
A fine Ancient Roman carnelian intaglio featuring an intricate engraving of a male youth dancing before a low altar. The intaglio is oval in shape, gently convex on the obverse and reverse with short, sloping sides. The obverse is engraved with a depiction of a male figure, facing left with his left leg raised from the knee and his weight on the right. Before him is a low altar, above which he is arranging a tall, three-fronded ornament, perhaps foliage or a musical instrument, in outstretched arms. The figure is draped in a short tunic and dons a Phrygian cap atop two curling trails of long hair, an uncommon ornament in Ancient Rome suggesting this to be a depiction of a foreigner or perhaps a Mithraic initiate. Minor chips feature to the edges and reverse of the intaglio.
Circa 1st-3rd Century AD