Intaglio with head of Serapis (?)

A small oval carnelian intaglio, glowing orange-red, carved in relief with a bearded male head turned slightly to the side. The hair falls in long, wavy locks across the forehead and cheeks, and the stone is shown against a plain gray ground. The record identifies the figure as possibly Serapis, a tentative attribution the carving itself does not settle.

Look closer: A small nick or chip on the top edge of the stone, where the setting or loop would have been.

Artist

Unknown

Date

332–30 BCE

Medium

Carnelian

Source

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Size

3000 × 4000 px

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, Edward S. Harkness Gift, 1926