The 'Apotheosis of Germanicus': Copy after an antique Cameo (The 'Gemma Tiberiana')

Image credit: Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

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In 1620, the French antiquary, Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc discovered a large Roman cameo in the Treasury of the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. He was intrigued by the subject in which he recognised a number of Roman Imperial portraits. It is now generally thought to represent Germanicus taking leave of his parents, the Emperor Tiberius and his mother, Livia, with other members of the Julio-Claudian family, past and present. In 1621, Peiresc suggested to Rubens that he might care to publish the discovery. This led to a project to compile an illustrated 'Gem Book' which came to nothing. Rubens also promised to make an enlarged copy of the cameo for Peiresc as a companion to a copy of another famous cameo painted by Niccolò dell'Abbate which was in Peiresc's collection.

Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

Oxford

Title

The 'Apotheosis of Germanicus': Copy after an antique Cameo (The 'Gemma Tiberiana')

Date

1626

Medium

oil on canvas

Measurements

H 100.7 x W 78 cm

Accession number

WA1989.74

Acquisition method

Accepted by HM Government in part settlement of inheritance tax on the estate of Christopher Norris and purchased with the assistance of the Museums and Galleries Commission/Victoria and Albert Museum Purchase Grant Fund and the Art Fund, 1989

Work type

Painting

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Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

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