Great Cameo of France

The Great Cameo of France (French: Grand Camée de France) is a five-layered sardonyx Imperial Roman cameo of either about 23 AD, or 50–54 AD.^[1] It is 31 cm by 26.5 cm. It is now in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris.

It is the largest Roman imperial cameo to have survived. It would have been an object of great value and prestige, almost certainly made for a member of the ruling Julio-Claudian dynasty. It is carved with twenty-four figures, divided into three levels. The identity of some figures, and the meaning and iconographic intent of the work have been much debated, but it is clear that the piece is intended to assert the continuity and dynastic legitimacy of the Julio-Claudian dynasty.

^ The date is still a matter of debate (W.-R. Megow, Kameen von Augustus bis Alexander Severus, Berlin, 1987, A 85.). See also H. Jucker, Der große Pariser Kameo. Eine Huldigung an Agrippina, Claudius und Nero, in Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts 91 (1976), pp. 211-250, W.-R. Megow, Kameen von Augustus bis Alexander Severus, Berlin, 1987, pp. 205-207.

[1] The date is still a matter of debate (W.-R. Megow, Kameen von Augustus bis Alexander Severus, Berlin, 1987, A 85.). See also H. Jucker, Der große Pariser Kameo. Eine Huldigung an Agrippina, Claudius und Nero, in Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts 91 (1976), pp. 211-250, W.-R. Megow, Kameen von Augustus bis Alexander Severus, Berlin, 1987, pp. 205-207.

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