Regency Carnelian Roman Seal with an Intaglio of the Greek Goddess Daphne

Regency Carnelian Roman Seal with an Intaglio of the Greek Goddess DaphneThis 9ct gold seal has a delicate openwork design, which encases a carnelian intaglio of the Greek Goddess Daphne. It was made circa 1800 1820. This would be very much a souvenir of the Grand Tour. The carnelian intaglio is Roman and depicts a woman standing with a laurel branch. The subject is the Greek Goddess Daphne (Greek Daphn). In Greek Mythology, the personification of the laurel, a tree whose leaves, formed into garlands, were particularly

This 9ct gold seal has a delicate openwork design, which encases a carnelian intaglio of the Greek Goddess Daphne. It was made circa 1800-1820. This would be very much a souvenir of the Grand Tour. The carnelian intaglio is Roman and depicts a woman standing with a laurel branch. The subject is the Greek Goddess Daphne (Greek Daphnē).

In Greek Mythology, the personification of the laurel, a tree whose leaves, formed into garlands, were particularly associated with Apollo. Traditionally, the special position of the laurel was connected with Apollo’s love for Daphne, the beautiful daughter of a river god, who lived a pastoral existence in either Thessaly, the Peloponnese, or Syria. She rejected every lover, including Apollo. When the god pursued her, Daphne prayed to the Earth or to her father to rescue her, whereupon she was transformed into a laurel. Apollo appropriated the laurel for poets and, in Rome, for triumphs. Daphne was also loved by Leucippus, who was killed because of Apollo’s jealousy.