Inasmuch as Egypt was the birthplace. as it were, of belief in amulets. charms, and phylac teries of all kinds, it naturally came to pass that it was the earliest country to develop and to encourage the production of these emblems which. for the individual, possessed a magical and religions significance. From the time of the dynasties of the first Pharaohs to the period of the domination of the Romans, the inhabitant: of the valley of the Nile, men and women, all wore about the neck, on the finger. or hung some where on their garments, cut or engraved gems of a talismanic character, which also served, in me sort, as a personal seal. It is safe to say that no country of ancient times has produced in such profusion precious stones in relief and in intaglio. It was in the Greek and Roman period that the cameo reached its perfection. The century of Scopes, Praxiteles, Lysippus, and Apelles produced an artist in gems whom all antiquity praises, but from whom there has not come down to us a single signed work. This artist is Pyrgoteles. Pliny and many others speak of him as the ablest engraver of all time, and place him in the same rank as the above mentioned sculptors and painters. Pyrgoteles
probably engraved several of .Alexan der in cameo and intaglio, though none can be authenticated. Although cameo is sculpture in miniature, we see by this that it engaged the talents of really great artists. Among the largest examples of ancient cameo work is the Sainte Chapelle agate in Paris (1:3 x 11 inches), repre senting the apotheosis of Augustus, and the Vienna onyx, an allegorical representation of the coronation of Augustus. These surpass, in sin' and beauty of execution, the best of modern productions in this art.
Bonam.R11`11Y. Agosti Gem now et ure. ntiqua- Depirta• ugustino ( Pa riA, %Arnett i, 1,e gem me ant fiche (Venice, 1750) : 3larsh, Cameo rutting f London. I891); Thompson. the Working of Shell ('ameos." in .1rt .Journal lib, lti9;-1); Davenport. Cameos 1 fibs 19thi : and especially Fort wiingler. Die .1 nt ikrn Gemmel! Leipzig and Berlin, 1900).