ENGRAVING ON PRECIOUS STONES. 155
stones; they are considered among the oldest monuments of
the glyptic art in existence. These engravings were at first
executed on soft stones, as steatite and limestone, but as the
art advanced, harder materials, such as basalt, agate, lapislazuli, and others, were employed. Egyptian scarabs, though
more ancient than Etruscan, were inferior in workmanship until
the time of the Ptolemies, when, it is said, the Greek style was
engrafted upon the old stock, producing a new scion, called
Greco-Egyptian, which has afforded some fine specimens; one
of these is seen in the British Museum, and another in Berlin.
It is supposed the Etruscans adopted the arts and religious
system of the Egyptians — though some antiquaries believe
their scarabs exhibit traces of Asiatic origin — hence we find
among the remains of this ancient people, these emblems, cut
in a great variety of material, from emerald to amber, and even
in pastes. The scarabs of Egypt were of all dimensions, from
colossal to very minute, while those of Etruria were nearly all
of the same size. The divinities of both nations are represented with wings, and are less graceful and more exaggerated
in action than those of the Greeks. Etruscan antique ornaments composed of scarabei are sometimes discovered of
considerable value ; a necklace of this description, found in
1852, in Tuscany, was sold for eight hundred dollars.
The Greco-Italian engravers selected for their subjects, at
first, some of the lower animals, as the ox, stag, and lion, afterwards human figures in full length, succeeded by heroes and
demi-gods, and, finally, the superior gods, with the forms of
men. The favorite topics for Italian art in every department
since its revival have been taken from the ^Eneid and the
Metamorphoses ; those of the Cinque-cento period were derived
from Roman history and the poems of Ovid. Byzantine
art affords some examples of engravings of large size but
