The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Cameo: Head of a Woman

1–100 CE

Italy, Roman

amethyst
Overall: 4.6 cm (1 13/16 in.)
Bequest of Leonard C. Hanna Jr. 1958.92
Location: 103 Roman

Did You Know?

The metal setting is modern; this gem was likely originally a roundel.

Description

This carved amethyst cameo depicts a woman wearing a laurel wreath and a palla, a cloak worn by Roman noblewomen. The palla is tucked behind the woman’s ears and is visible over her right shoulder. She may have been a member of the Julio-Claudian imperial family or a wealthy private individual. In her hairstyle, straight nose, and small but full mouth the woman closely resembles portrait cameos identified as Antonia Minor, niece of the emperor Augustus and mother of the emperor Claudius. Only elite Romans could use amethyst; true purple stones had to be imported to Rome at great expense.
  • Before 1901, Sir J. C. Robinson
    Between 1901-1905, Wyndham F. Cook
    1905-1925, Humphrey W. Cook
    1925-, Dr. Jacob Hirsch
    Before 1958, Leonard C. Hanna Jr.
    1958-, The Cleveland Museum of Art
  • Christie, Manson & Woods. Greek, Roman and Etruscan Antiquities, and Antique and Renaissance Gems, the Property of Humphrey W. Cook, Esq. ... Sir Francis Cook, Bart., July 14-15, 1925. P. 16, no. 64.
    Cleveland Museum of Art, and William Mathewson Milliken. In Memoriam: Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH. 1958. No. 216, plus illust. archive.org
    Vollenweider, Marie-Louise. Die Steinschneidekunst und ihre Künstler in Spätrepublikanischer und Augusteischer Zeit. Baden-Baden: Grimm, 1966. Catalog plate 3. Ref. p. 12, 81. Described p. 91
    Cooney, John D. “Intaglios, Cameos, and Related Works.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 55, no. 4 (1968): 113–19. Ill. figs. 3-4. www.jstor.org
    Damon, Cynthia, ed. Transactions of the American Philological Association (1974-) 135, no. 2. (2005). The Johns Hopkins University Press. Cover Image www.jstor.org
    Del Bufalo, Dario. Precious portraits: small precious stone sculptures of Imperial Rome. Turin: Umberto Allemandi, 2020. Reproduced: p. 154, no. 499
  • Collecting Drawings in England. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 3, 1987-January 17, 1988).
  • {{cite web|title=Cameo: Head of a Woman|url=false|author=|year=1–100 CE|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1958.92