- Material: Cornelian Shell, 15k gold tested.
- Size: 2 3/8" by 2 2/8" cameo itself is 1 5/8" by 2".
- Date and Origin: Circa 1850 Italy.
- Conditions: Perfect. Cameo was probably once a buckle, converted then into a brooch adding a pin.
This is a Museum Quality cameo of a rarest subject depicting Cupid in the underworld as the tamer of Cerberus the multi headed dog that guards the gates of the Underworld. This subject is after a relief by Thorvaldsen made in 1828.
The fiery interior of the world, here symbolized by the three-headed dog Cerberus, the guardian of the Underworld, is controlled by Cupid. He has here placed his bow like a noose around the dog’s three heads, and in his hand he holds the pitchfork belonging to Pluto, the god of the Underworld. This cameo is a real work of art, the carver fully respected the original subject and each small detail. The carving is superb, look at the dog, his presence is majestic and look please at how his hair is rendered, absolutely amazing. Cupid is here portrayed naked, very unusual as in the Victorian era was used to cover any nudity with drapes or veils. This cameo is real work of art, look at all the details beautifully carved, even the smallest one is precisely made as the bow rope around the neck of Cerberus, the snake at the end of his tail. The proportions are the right ones. The gold frame is wonderful, polished and satin gold embellished by scrolls, leaves and a gold shell in the centre. The right frame to evidence the beauty of this outstanding cameo. A real Museum piece for any collector to not to be missed.
A bit of history
In Greek mythology,
Cerberus often called the "hound of Hades", is the monstrous multi-headed dog that guards the gates of the Underworld to prevent the dead from leaving. Cerberus was the offspring of the monsters Echidna and Typhon, and usually is described as having three heads, a serpent for a tail, and snakes protruding from parts of his body. Cerberus is primarily known for his capture by Heracles, one of Heracles' twelve labours. Descriptions of Cerberus vary, including the number of his heads. Cerberus was usually three-headed, though not always. Cerberus had a multi-headed heritage. His father was the multi snake-headed Typhon, and Cerberus was the brother of three other multi-headed monsters, the multi-snake-headed Lernaean Hydra; Orthrus, the two-headed dog who guarded the Cattle of Geryon; and the Chimera, who had three heads, that of a lion, a goat, and a snake. And, like these close relatives, Cerberus was, with only the rare iconographic exception, multi-headed. In the earliest description of Cerberus, Hesiod's
Theogony (c. 8th – 7th century BC), Cerberus has fifty heads, while Pindar (c. 522 – c. 443 BC) gave him one hundred heads. However, later writers almost universally give Cerberus three heads. An exception is the Latin poet Horace's Cerberus which has a single dog head, and one hundred snake heads. Perhaps trying to reconcile these competing traditions, Apollodorus’s Cerberus has three dog heads and the heads of "all sorts of snakes" along his back, while the Byzantine poet John Tzetzes (who probably based his account on Apollodorus) gives Cerberus fifty heads, three of which were dog heads, the rest being the "heads of other beasts of all sorts". In art Cerberus is most commonly depicted with two dog heads (visible), never more than three, but occasionally with only one. On one of the two earliest depictions (c. 590–580 BC), a Corinthian cup from Argos (see below), now lost, Cerberus is shown as a normal single-headed dog. The first appearance of a three-headed Cerberus occurs on a mid sixth century BC Laconian cup. Horace's many snake-headed Cerberus followed a long tradition of Cerberus being part snake. This is perhaps already implied as early as in Hesiod's
Theogony, where Cerberus' mother is the half-snake Echidna, and his father the snake-headed Typhon. In art Cerberus is often shown as being part snake, for example the lost Corinthian cup shows snakes protruding from Cerberus' body, while the mid sixth-century BC Laconian cup gives Cerberus a snake for a tail.
