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Gemma Claudia

Gemma Claudia is an ancient cameo carved in about 49 CE from five-layer sardonyx, a variety of onyx with parallel reddish layers of carnelian. It depicts members of the Roman Julio-Claudian dynasty in a carefully balanced composition with two double cornucopias, an eagle, and four portraits emerging from the stone. Claudius and his fourth wife Agrippina the Younger appear on one side, while Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder are shown opposite. The work was likely made to commemorate the emperor’s wedding. It later belonged in the 17th century to the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperors and is now kept in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, where it remains set in an 18th-century gold mounting.

Gemma Claudia cameo with four profile portraits facing inward, gold border, and intertwined horn-shaped elements at the bottom.
Gemma Claudia, an oval onyx cameo with four profile portraits and a gold border.
June 2006 © · CC BY 2.5
Gemma Claudia oval onyx cameo with four profile figures in relief and a gold border.
The Gemma Claudia cameo, an oval onyx carving with four profile figures framed by a thin gold rim.
June 2006 © · CC BY 2.5
Gemma Claudia cameo with four profile figures in a gold-colored frame
The Gemma Claudia cameo, showing four profile figures carved in relief within a gold-colored frame.
October 2010 © Photo: Andreas Praefcke · Public domain
Gemma Claudia cameo with two facing profile portraits in wreaths, faint figures behind them, and an eagle between two cornucopias.
The Gemma Claudia cameo shows paired profile portraits facing one another above an eagle and cornucopias.
August 2015 © · CC BY-SA 2.0
Gemma Claudia cameo with four classical profile portraits, two laurel-wreathed figures and two crowned figures with an eagle and cornucopias below.
Gemma Claudia depicted as an oval cameo with four classical profile portraits and ornate symbols below.
© Clemens Kohl (1754-1807) · Public domain

Identification

TitleGemma Claudia
TypeRoman cameo

Historical context

DateAD 49, probably shortly after the marriage of Claudius and Agrippina the Younger in January 49
Possible functionPossibly an official wedding gift for the imperial couple

Creator

ArtistUnknown

Discovery and provenance

Former ownersThe Habsburg Holy Roman Emperors by the 17th century
Original ownerEmperor Claudius
Collection historyLater part of the Habsburg collections and the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna
Inventory numberAS Inv. No. IX A 63

Physical characteristics

Base thickness2 mm
Dimensions12 cm high, 15.2 cm wide
MountingSet in an 18th-century gold frame or mount

Materials

MaterialFive-layer sardonyx

Technique

Carving techniqueMasterfully carved from five alternating dark and light layers of stone
WorkmanshipGreat virtuosity; exceptionally fine carving in places
Material effectThe carving increased the transparency of the material by cutting very thin layers

Appearance

Alternative identificationsSome scholars have proposed other identifications for the pairs, including Claudius with Agrippina the Younger or Messalina, and on the opposite side Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder, Drusus the Elder and Antonia the Younger, Tiberius and Livia Drusilla, Britannicus and Octavia, or Augustus and Livia
Portrait featuresClaudius is shown as an about sixty-year-old man with a thick chin and wrinkles on the forehead and around the mouth
CompositionTwo cornucopias with an eagle between them, from which four portraits emerge in two facing pairs
Right pairGermanicus and Agrippina the Elder
Left pairClaudius and Agrippina the Younger
Depicted subjectsMembers of the Roman imperial Julio-Claudian dynasty

Iconography and meaning

Agrippina the YoungerDepicted as Cybele, goddess of fertility
Headwear and attributesClaudius and Germanicus wear the civic crown; the female figure wears a crown of ears of grain and poppies, and other figures are shown with triumphal symbols such as weapons, armor, and crowns
SymbolismThe cornucopias symbolize abundance and expectation of abundant benefits; the eagle and weapons allude to the emperor's military triumphs
InterpretationProbably created in memory of Claudius's wedding to Agrippina the Younger, and possibly as an official marriage gift

Location and ownership

Current locationKunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Current mountingGold setting

History and restoration

Scholarly noteAccording to a 1994 study, the cameo may result from the partial reworking of an earlier cameo

Significance

Art historical contextA relatively late member of the group of spectacular imperial engraved gems sometimes called State Cameos
Related examplesGemma Augustea in Vienna, the Great Cameo of France in Paris, and the Blacas Cameo in London
Earlier group contextEarlier members were presumably created in the inner court circle of Augustus and were probably not presented to the general public
Earlier group imageryThey depict Augustus with divine attributes and, in some cases, erotic motifs that were politically sensitive and not for a wider audience