CAMEO (Ital. camel). Gems' ems cut in relief arc called cameos, in opposition to those that are hollowed out so as to yield a raised impression, which are called intaglios. The term C., however, is applied more especially to those diminutive pieces of sculpture which are prepared from precious stones having two strata or layers of different colors, the undermost of which is left to form the background, the object to be represented being cut in the upper one. The stone generally used for this purpose by the ancients was the variegated onyx.
The art of cameo-cutting is of great antiquity. It is believed to have been of Asiatic origin, and to have been practiced by the Babylonians, from whom the Phenicians car ried it into Egypt. From the Egyptians, it was transmitted to the Greeks, who brought it to great perfection ; and latterly it was practiced very extensively, and more success fully thanperhaps any other art, in Rome. To what extent the gems, commonly called Etruscan, are in reality early Greek, is a subject of dispute amongst the learned. It was not till a comparatively late period—the age following Praxiteles—that cameo-cutting became popular in Greece; and it was in the courts of the successors of Alexander that it was chiefly patronized. At this period, cameos were very extensively used, not only as personal ornaments, but iu cups, vases, candelabra, and other objects of domestic lux ury. Pater& and other vessels were frequently worked out of a single stone, upon which were exhibited a whole series of figures of the most exquisite workmanship. Many of the antique cameos which have been preserved are wonderfully beautiful both in design and execution. The finest specimen iu existence is said to be the Gonzaga C., formerly at .Malmaison, now at St. Petersburg. It represents the head of a prince and his wife, probably Ptolemy I. and Eurydice. Winekelmann mentions a C. representing Perseus and Andromeda, in such high relief, that almost the whole contour of the figures, which are of the most delicate white, is detached from the ground. It belonged to the painter Mengs, and at his death was purchased by the empress Catharine of Russia. The only other gem which Winchelmaun is disposed to rank with that just mentioned, is " the Judgment of Paris" in the cabinet of the prince Piombino at Rome. Of cameos of the Roman time, many fine specimens are to be found in the continental museums. The most celebrated C. in England is the " Cupid and Psyche," in the Marlborough collec tion, by Tryphon, who is supposed to have lived in Macedon under the immediate suc cessors of Alexander. The stones ou which many of these cameos are cut are of sur prising, and, in modern times, unequaled size and perfection. They are supposed to have been procured by the ancients through their oriental and African commerce. Cameos do not seem to have been made in medieval times; but the art revived in Italy, under the auspices of of the Medici; and the production of cameos, both in pietra dura and in shell, has there become a branch of art-manufacture of considerable importance.
Impressions from antique cameos in glass, sulphur, porcelain, and other materials, are produced in many places; and for artistic purposes, possess all the value of the originals.
Glass Cameos.—The manufacture of cameos from artificial substances was not unknown to the ancients. One of the most beautiful specimens of an imitation of C. in glass is the famous Barberini or Portland vase, now in the British museum. The ground is blue, the figures, which are in low relief, being of a delicate, half-transparent white. See PORTLAND VASE. Many fragments of the same kind of manufacture exist in other cabinets, but that which we are fortunate enough to possess is believed to be the only perfect example.
Cameos. —The art of imitating cameos in shell, which has now attained to such perfection as to rival the delicacy and finish even of antique workmanship, and which is a process quite as artistica] as their production from gems, is of modern invention. The shells, like the stones, chosen for this purpose, are such as possess layers of different colors. The most useful are the bull's the under layer of which is red, resembling the sardonyx; the black helmet, which has a dark onyx ground; and the queen's conch, of which the ground is of a pinkish hue. These shells have three strata, the undermost of which forms the ground, the figure being sculptured in the second, and the third serv ing to mark the hair, wreaths, armor, and other more prominent objects. The portion of shell having been prepared of the requisite size, form, and thickness by various mechanical means, it is fixed by some adhesive substance—usually rosin—to a small block of wood, of such form and thickness as to be conveniently grasped by the artist in his left hand. The outline of the object or objects to be represented is then sketched with a pencil, and, in the case of portraits, is usually copied from a previous pencil sketch on paper. The pencil-marking on the shell is then followed with a scratch-point, and the surrounding white substance is removed by means of .files and gravers. This latter process, which is more mechanical than the rest,, is usually performed by an assist ant. The artist then proceeds slowly and carefully to work out his subject by the use of smaller tools; those used at last for deepening the finer lines being scarcely larger than darning-needless. darnin-needless. The manufacture of shell-cameos in Rome commenced about 1805, and is said have been of Sicilian origin. The art was at first confined to Italy; but during the last 35 years, it has been carried on in Paris to a greater extent than even in Rome, though not with equal success. A large proportion of the whole cameos manufactured in France are imported into England, and many of them are mounted as brooches, and exported to the .1.7iiited States and the British colonies. Saolini and`Gio vanni Dies have long been celebrated as artists in shell-cameo in Rome, whilst Giro metti has enjoyed a similar reputation for his works in jietra dura.