Heliotrope gem: Figure wrapped in snake

PP-ID:

PP-1729

Classification:

gem, magical

Collection ID:

DE_Kassel-HKH_Ge 139

Collection:

Kassel, Antikensammlung, Hessen Kassel Heritage

Collection Inventory:

Ge 139

Reference Numbers:

Capello 1702, no. 212; AGD III, no. Kassel 139; Michel 2001, no. 115; Michel, DMG, no. 9.2_1

Former Collections:

Patin, Charles (Paris, 1633 – Padua, 1693); Capello, Antonio (Venice, 1652–1729); Karl, Landgraf von Hessen-Kassel (Kassel, 1654–1730)

Material:

jasper, green and red; heliotrope

Dimensions:

2.25 × 1.6 × 0.45 cm

Iconography:

figure, wrapped in snake; jet water; pentagram

Dark green jasper with red veins (heliotrope). Upright oval, side A flat, side B convex. (Shape 7). Chipped at the edge.

Side A: Youthful figure standing to left, his body wrapped in what seem to be thick coils of a snake, with three pairs of long lines projecting from the coils like jets of water. Below the figure: pentagram. Characteres around the figure.
Side B: Undecorated.

Selected bibliography
• Capello 1702 >>, pl. 35, no. 212 (see Antiquitatum Thesaurus for details).
• Montfaucon 1719 >>, vol. 2,2, 376, pl. 172L (see Antiquitatum Thesaurus for details).
• Zazoff, AGD III >>, 230, no. 139.
• Michel 2001 >>, 103–104, no. 115; click here for the full-text excerpt.
• Michel, DMG >>, no. 9.2_1.