Quantcast
  We apologize for any slow response. This will be fixed before October 31st Portal logo
Login/Register
Bactrian Gold Treasure from Afghanistan, coming soon....
/gemstones/king-natural-history/page_159 - 2
 

Carbunculus, Ruby

Carbunculus, Ruby Page of 453 Carbunculus, Ruby Text size:minus plus Restore normal size   Mail page  Print this page
150                                  CARBUNCULUS.
sented as Harpocrates (Berlin). This gem has been pronounced antique by the best judges in Paris, and was bequeathed as a most precious souvenir by the late possessor, L. Fould, to Baron Eoger (l'ainé).
Some very noble intagli have also been left us by the Italians of the early Eenaissance : for instance, an intaglio, a head of Thetis capped with a crab's shell, deserves especial mention from the similarity of its style to the best Greek—the stone large, irregular, and of a pale rose-colour, formerly in the Herz ;7 and as a work in relief, a head of Serapis in front face, executed in the grandest manner upon a large stone of immense value, by far the first amongst the engraved of the Hope Cabinet of Precious Stones.
The names Carbunculus and Lychnis gave rise to many won­derful stories, suggested by them to the fancy of the credulous Greeks. Thus AElian relates (H. A. viii.) how a certain widow, Heraclea by name, had tended a young stork that, having fallen out of the nest before it was fully fledged, had broken its leg, and how the grateful bird, on returning from the annual migration of its kind, dropped into her lap, as she sat at her door, a precious stone, which, on her awaking at night, she found to her astonishment had lighted up her chamber like a blazing torch.8 A similar description is that retailed by Lucian in his account of the statue of the Syrian goddess (Astarte). " The goddess wears on her head a gem called Lychnis (lamp-stone), a name derived from its nature ; for from it a great and shining light is diffused in the night-time, so that the whole temple is thereby lighted up as though by many lamps burning.9 By day the lustre is more
Carbunculus, Ruby Page of 453 Carbunculus, Ruby
Suggested Illustrations
Other Chapters you may find useful
Other Books on this topic
bullet Tag
This Page