Cameo (carving)

The Great Cameo of France, a very large ancient Roman cameo in the Musée du Louvre, Paris

A cameo is a kind of small sculpture. A cameo has an image in relief. The image is often a different colour to the background. An intaglio is the opposite of cameo.

History

Cameos with portraits of people were common in the jewellery of Classical Antiquity. This type of cameo was also common in the Renaissance.

Cameo (carving) Media

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  The Great Cameo of France, five layers sardonyx, Rome, c. 23 AD, the largest of Antiquity

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  Eagle Cameo, Roman 27 B.C. Two-layered onyx.

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  Cameo of Roman Emperor Augustus wearing a gorgoneion and a sword-belt. Three-layered sardonyx cameo, Roman artwork, c. 14–20 AD.

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  Woman wearing a cameo at her throat, on a high lace collar in the Edwardian style

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  The Gonzaga Cameo in the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg. The gem measures 15,7 x 11,8 cm.

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  A modern hand-carved portrait cameo of white on blue-layered agate, set in 18 kt white gold

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  A cameo carved into the dorsum of a shell of the tiger cowry, Cypraea tigris

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  Cameo carved on Cassis madagascariensis by Ascione manufacture, 1925, Naples, Coral and Cameo Jewellery Museum Ascione