Making an Impression: The Art and Craft of Ancient Engraved Gemstones is now open

Making an impression is the first exhibition of ancient gems in the Southeastern United States. Organized by the museum's curator of Greek and Roman art, Ruth Allen, the exhibition draws from the museum's collection of ancient gemstones, many of which have never been displayed publicly. Key loans supplement and contextualize the Carlos’s collection of these diminutive but detailed works of art, and in its entirety, Making an Impression explores the material, iconography, and function of engraved gemstones in classical antiquity.

The practice of engraving precious stones began as early as the seventh millennium BCE in Mesopotamia (ancient Iraq) and the Indus Valley before spreading throughout the ancient Mediterranean, taking new forms, and peaking in popularity from the first century BCE under the Roman empire before declining in the third century CE. The carvings represent various subjects, including gods, emperors, animals, and mythical characters. The resulting works of miniature art were used as signets, amulets, and personal ornaments, typically mounted in rings. The engraved gems were admired (and problematized) as luxury artworks, treasured as antiques and heirlooms, and worn as statements of status, wealth, sophistication, and learning. The stones themselves were also believed to have magical and medicinal properties. Highly polished and small in scale, engraved gems are hard to view and require close inspection. In antiquity, this was part of their allure.

Through this exhibition, visitors are invited to view how stone and image work together, not only to communicate the wearer's social identity but also his or her aspirations, anxieties, and desires. Viewers may examine these small

of Nature.” —Pliny the Elder, Natural History 37.1

but significant pieces of ancient art and consider the stories behind the gems. Each constructed, protected, and promoted the nature of its wearer, as well as the people who interacted with the gems—from the enslaved miners who quarried the stones to the engravers who carved them to the individuals who wore them, and the viewers impressed by their luster.

The exhibition is on view now until November 27, 2022, in the museum's Level Three Special Exhibition Galleries. Z

This exhibition has been made possible through generous support from the Michael J. Shubin Endowment, the Evergreen Foundation, the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, Krista Lankswert, and New Roman Creative.

above left Intaglio Gem Depicting Hermaphroditos. Greek, Ptolemaic. 2nd Century BCE. Garnet group, pyrope. Gift of John and Pat Laszlo. 2017.53.5. Photo

by Bruce M. White, 2018.

above center Finger Ring with Intaglio Gem Depicting a Portrait Bust of Plautilla. Roman, ca. 202–205 CE. Beryl group, var. emerald; gold. Gift of the Estate of Michael J. Shubin.

2012.32.33. Photo by Bruce M. White, 2021.

above right Intaglio Gem Depicting a Bust of Galene. Roman, late 1st Century BCE. Microcrystalline quartz, var. carnelian. Gift of the Estate of Michael J. Shubin.

2008.31.32. Photo by Bruce M. White, 2021.