- chapter 51: Engraved gems –
periods in terms of style and iconography.^28 And some scarab gems actually had their
backs sawed-off in order to be reused as ringstones, like a sardonyx in London with an
intaglio device showing the weary Herakles, illustrated here (Fig. 51.12). The ringstones,
which vary in shape from circular and oval to more angular, have remained a problematic
group of gems, both in terms of dating and workshop attribution, since virtually none
of them have been found during controlled excavation, and provenance information is
scarce.^29 Single, statuary-like fi gures from Greek myth are popular even here: Achilles,
Herakles, Hermes, Odysseus, Kapaneus, Tydeus, and Kadmos, but so too are fi gures
that are less common or absent on Etruscan scarabs, such as Prometheus, Orpheus,
Philoktetes, and Oidipus with the Sphinx. There are also many anonymous warriors
and youths, but very few female fi gures. The relative popularity of devices with what
appears to be Maschialismos scenes or severed heads should be noted. There are very few
inscriptions, most of them are written in Latin letters and seem to refer to the owner of the
gem.^30 Some scholars have attributed this whole production to non-Etruscan workshops,
and it is true that there are some differences in subject matter, but these probably say
more about customer tastes than about the engravers. It is reasonable to assume that
Etruscan workshops were responsible for initializing this production sometime in the
second half of the fourth century bce. They may have continued to produce ringstones
well into the second century bce, but, given the lack of datable contexts, chronology
remains a controversial issue.^31 In the third and second centuries bce they would have
had competition from engravers active in other parts of central and southern Italy.
THE END OF ETRUSCAN PRODUCTIONThe scarcity of datable fi nd contexts makes the end of Etruscan glyptic production
diffi cult to pinpoint. As mentioned, engravers probably began to adapt their artistic
output to suit more socially and culturally heterogeneous customer groups, including
non-Etruscan components, already towards the end of the fourth century bce, by
Figure 51.12 Sardonyx ringstone based on a scarab. Herakles/Hercle, inscr. hercle.
From Arna (Perugia?) Fourth century bce. London, British Museum inv. GR 1814.7-4.1299
© Trustees of the British Museum.