Frame Decorated With Plaster Cameos Empire Period Early 19th Century

Frame decorated with plaster cameos from the Empire period at the beginning of the 19th century. The cameos represent ancient scenes in the Greek and Neoclassical style. Interest in the forms and ornamentation of the neoclassical style, very fashionable under Louis XVI, the Directory or even the Empire favored the creation and dissemination of works of art with Greco-Roman influence. The craze for castings of engraved gems (cast on cameos or intaglios) corresponds to the era of the “Grand tour”. During their trip to Italy, passionate collectors and artists brought back in their luggage boxes of cast miniatures as typical souvenirs or as study subjects to draw inspiration from antique themes. An intaglio is a hard, thin stone engraved in the mass, often mounted on a ring to serve as a seal or stamp. The stones most frequently used for intaglios are carnelian, chalcedony, agate, jasper and rock crystal. The cameo is a stone cut in relief. Both intaglios and cameos feature classic figurative motifs. These magnificent casts of great finesse depict Greek and Roman deities, architectural details and even mythological figures. These cameos were mounted on a frame in the 20th century on a background of blue and white paper enhanced with gold Dimensions 35 x 30 cm