Italian, 17th Century

Compare with the red and grey agate cameo of a reclining figure in Munich attributed to the Prague Imperial Court workshop and illustrated by Weber (op. cit. no 113). For the physiognomy note also the erotic cameo with a reclining nymph offered in these rooms on 4 December 2018, lot 73, which was attributed to Ottavio Miseroni, the Milanese engraver who worked for Rudolf II at Prague.

The composition is perhaps inspired by Renaissance paintings of Venus reclining, such as Titian's famous Venus of Urbino in the Uffizi or his Venus and Musician paintings in various museums including the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.

RELATED LITERATURE

I. Weber, Kostbare Steine, Die Gemmensammlung des Kurfursten Johann Wilhelm von der Pfalz, Munich 1992.