Attributed to Giuseppe Girometti (1780-1851) | Italian, 19th century | Cameo of Cybele

Cybele was worshipped as Magna Mater by the ancient Romans. In this beautiful cameo she is presented seated in a chariot which is pulled by lions; a similar depiction as seen in the Fountain of Cybele by Francisco Gutiérrez Arribas (1727-1782) in Madrid. The present seated figure is compositionally similar to other figures seen in works by Giuseppe Girometti; see for example the Priam supplicating Achilles in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (inv. no. 40.20.40) and the Jupiter and Hebe sold Christies 17 November 2009, lot 306. Interestingly a cameo with Cybele (possibly by Girometti) is described by Martha Babcock Amory in The Wedding Journey of Charles and Martha Babcock Amory: Switzerland, Holland and Germany (1922) 'he also took ... a head of Hercules I fancied extremely, of Girometti; my friends preferred very much a Cybele in oriental agate'.