of a quadriga, in four different colored layers, is a rare and
interesting specimen, on account of the number of tints and
their skilful use by the artist. The Odescalchi cameo, in the
Vatican collection, remarkable for its size and superior
workmanship, is engraved with figures once supposed to
represent Alexander and Olympia, but according to the opinion
of Visconti, Ptolemy Euergetes and Berenice. The largest
cameo in this cabinet delineates the triumph of Bacchus and
Ceres, on a gem sixteen inches by twelve, consisting of five
different colored layers. Another of large size and superior
workmanship, cut upon a stone of two colors, is in the Vienna
Museum.
The Florence collection comprises many celebrated engravings ; some of the most conspicuous are an Antoninus Pius, a
Cupid on a Lion, Apollo in Repose (the figure being in gold),
Iphigenia recognizing Orestes and Pylades, a head of Jupiter, a
Bacchante cut in three colors, the head of Augustus as Apollo,
head of Vespasian, head of Livia, Wounded Stag, and the
Fall of Phaeton. Of sacred subjects, are a figure of Christ, of
large size, and a double cameo, in blood-red jasper, depicting the
Flight into Egypt on one side, and on the other the Massacre
of the Innocents. The group of portraits affords five of the
Medici family—Cosmo, Lorenzo, Alexander, Catherine, and
Leo X.,— Francis I., Phillip II., and Bianca Capella. Those
of the fifteenth century include Savonarola, on carnelian, and
Pope Paul III., on sapphire. A few of the most celebrated
intagli in this collection are an Apollo, on onyx ; Hercules in
Olympus, on amethyst ; Titans, on amethyst ; Pallas and other
heads, on sardonyx ; and Leander, on sapphire. A large
number of the Florence engravings bear the name of Lorenzo
de Medici, who established a school for this department of art
in the Republic.
