Italian Shell Cameo of Raphael as Brooch, c. 1850

A young couple appears to us in this cameo, arranged one behind the other in profile. They are dressed in clothing typical of around 1500, transporting us back to the years of the Renaissance. The man’s head is framed by chin-length hair and covered with a voluminous beret. The lady in the background wears a precious headdress adorned with pearls. Both figures are lifted into the sky by clouds. Yet this is not the heaven of ancient gods: it is the heaven of the fine arts, indicated here by a painter’s palette with brushes, suggesting that the figure depicted is an artist. And indeed, it is Raphael himself, here shown together with his lover Margherita Luti. During his lifetime, Raffaello Santi (1483–1520) was so famous that he was generally referred to simply by his first name. His greatest rival, and the only artist whose own fame overshadowed Raphael’s during his lifetime, was Michelangelo. Even in the 19th century, Raphael’s paintings, especially his Madonnas, were highly valued and so admired that they were frequently copied and reproduced – on porcelain, in engravings, and in paintings. The cameo presented here demonstrates the admiration for Raphael in those years; we date it to the mid-19th century. By then, his lover Margherita Luti, known as la Fornarina (“the little baker”), was widely recognised. Raphael had portrayed her on several occasions and lent her features to the faces of his Madonnas, for which she had posed. The unusual cameo was most likely carved in Italy and acquired there as a travel keepsake, before being brought to England, where the setting in so-called Pinchbeck was added. The design of the setting, in the taste of the period, features numerous small C-scrolls. This collectible piece of jewellery, intended to be worn as a brooch, came to us from a significant Berlin collection.

Estimate:£423.01

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