The Great Cameo of France is a five-layered sardonyx Imperial Roman cameo of either about 23 AD, or 50–54 AD. It is 31 cm by 26.5 cm. It is now in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris.
The Great Cameo of France
Cameo is a method of carving an object such as an engraved gem, item of jewellery or vessel. It nearly always features a raised (positive) relief image; contrast with intaglio, which has a negative image. Originally, and still in discussing historical work, cameo only referred to works where the relief image was of a contrasting colour to the background; this was achieved by carefully carving a piece of material with a flat plane where two contrasting colours met, removing all the first colour except for the image to leave a contrasting background.
The Great Cameo of France, five layers sardonyx, Rome, c. 23 AD, the largest of Antiquity
Eagle Cameo, Roman 27 B.C. Two-layered onyx.
Cameo of Roman Emperor Augustus wearing a gorgoneion and a sword-belt. Three-layered sardonyx cameo, Roman artwork, c. 14–20 AD.
Woman wearing a cameo at her throat, on a high lace collar in the Edwardian style