- chapter 51: Engraved gems –
Figure 51.7 Cornelian scarab. Herakles/Hercle sailing on an amphora raft. From Corchiano. Early
to mid-fi fth century bce. Copenhagen, National Museum of Denmark, Collection of Near Eastern and
Classical Antiquities, inv. 3711. Photo Ulf R. Hansson, courtesy of the National Museum of Denmark.Greek heroic names to various stock fi gures, but in most cases the names seem wholly
appropriate for the fi gures represented in terms of action and/or attributes.^22 In some
cases, names seem to have been added to assure correct identifi cation of a depicted fi gure
when his or her identity was not immediately clear from either attributes or action.^23
Sometimes names have been added to fi gures already identifi able through attributes or
action, a form of “supercharging” that would instead have been aimed at maximizing the
effectiveness or potency of the image.
The beetle sides continue to be meticulously carved and polished throughout the fi fth
century bce, revealing a continued interest in the realistic rendering of the scarab beetle,
but also a decorative inventiveness in details such as winglets and plinth decoration.
LATE FIFTH- AND FOURTH-CENTURY WORKSHOPSThe Late Classical period, circa 430–320 bce, is characterized by continued formal and
iconographic diversity. The label “Free style” is often applied to these works. Attic vase
painting continues to be a major infl uence, together with coins, sculpture and painting,
as well as indigenous Etruscan works such as bronze mirrors and cistae. The prevalent
single- or two-fi gured compositions usually fi ll the whole space inside the oval decorated
border, which is still mostly hatched but occasionally more elaborate, like the dotted line
of the early scarab illustrated here, depicting Herakles wrestling with Antaios (Fig. 51.8),
and found in a tomb in Populonia together with pottery dated to the mid-fi fth century
bce.^24 A higher degree of realism and plasticity is introduced in the rendering of human
bodies, which are muscular but successively more slender and at times statuary-like (Fig.
51.9). The fi gures, which tend to have large, sometimes squarish heads and coiffures with
fi nely engraved strands of hair, are often clad in a characteristic short mantle or chlamys
and frequently stand with their legs slightly apart or crossed, occasionally bent over an
object or an animal (Fig. 51.10). Engravers excel in various foreshortenings of backs,
arms and legs, and some fi gures are depicted performing an action such as speaking
(with the characteristic raised-hand gesture), sacrifi cing, or practicing various crafts.
Some scholars have interpreted such scenes as taken from everyday life, but the majority