Roman Carnelian Intaglio of Spes Holding a Flower

Roman, Imperial period. An oval carnelian intaglio, a ring stone cut with the goddess Spes, the Roman personification of Hope. The translucent orange stone is engraved with her slender figure in profile, striding left. She holds a budding flower forward in one hand, and with the other she gathers up the folds of her long robe, a gesture as typical of Spes as a halo is of a saint. The engraver modeled the drapery with quick, confident drill and wheel strokes, so the folds catch the light across the polished face. Gems like this were set into finger rings and used to seal documents and possessions. Wearing Hope on the hand may also have been a small daily wish for good fortune, health, or a fruitful future. Spes was one of the oldest abstract virtues honored by the Romans. Her temple in the Forum Holitorium is said to date to the First Punic War. Under the emperors she became Spes Augusta, a promise of dynastic continuity, and she appeared regularly on coins, often alongside an imperial heir. Her standard image looks back deliberately to the Archaic Greek korai: a young woman with a flower held out before her and her skirt drawn up in her other hand. Gem engravers repeated this form widely, so it is one of the most easily recognized personifications in Roman glyptic art. Carnelian was the stone Roman gem cutters liked best. It is hard enough to keep fine detail, it takes a high polish, and it releases sealing wax cleanly. Item # 205240

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