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ENGRAVING ON PRECIOUS STONES. 157
Rome, said to export fifty thousand dollars worth of these
jewels annually, possesses almost a monopoly of the trade, though Paris has produced some fine specimens, notably a sardonyx, which was sold for seven thousand francs. One of the most celebrated carnei of modern times is an onyx three inches in diameter, representing Shah Jehan in the act of killing a tiger, during a hunting excursion. This kind of work has been very freely used for decoration
in various ways, both in ancient and modern times. .The shrine of the Three Kings of Cologne is ornamented with carnei, and some of the vases in use among the Romans were entirely covered with them ; such is the famous " Agate of St. Denis." Francis I., King of France, was the owner of an agate vase three inches in height and two in width, cut in three different colors, and engraved with the figures of Apollo and Diana, Cupid and Psyche, and Victory seated on a car drawn by butterflies, mounted in gold and enriched by precious stones. During the reign of Louis XV., this remarkable vase was despoiled of its ornaments and sold for a trifle. The Tazza or Farnese Cup, at Naples, eight inches in diameter, is carved in the interior with reliefs, supposed to represent the " Prosperity of Egypt," and on the outside with the head of Medusa. The Apotheosis of Augustus, on a tri-colored sardonyx, thirteen inches by eleven, is one of the most celebrated and, perhaps, the most superb monument of the glyptic art in existence. It comprises twenty or more figures, and is in two parts. It was brought from the East by the Crusaders, in the reign of St. Louis, and dedicated by Charles V, King of France, to the chapel in his palace ; it is sometimes called the " Onyx of Sainte Chapelle," and is to be seen at the Bibliothèque Nationale, in which are preserved a large number of carnei and intagli. A cameo representing the four horses |
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