Intaglio with an Athlete Set in a Ring

Description This intaglio depicts an athlete, frontally, pouring oil from an alabastron with his left hand. To the left is a water jug (hydria) on a table. The athlete may be a small-scale depiction of a famous Greek statue by one of the followers of the renowned sculptor Polykleitos (5th century BCE). The gem is inscribed vertically on the right with the name of a well-known gem-carver of the late 1st century BCE, ΓNAIOΥ (Gnaios). The intaglio has been largely abraded due to early modern cleaning.

Conservation

Examined in preparation for exhibition.

An impression was made of the intaglio for purposes of exhibition. The object was cleaned afterward.

Date	Description	Narrative
12/31/1969	Technical Report	other
9/06/1960	Examination	other
10/11/1971	Treatment	other
4/01/1983	Treatment	cleaned; other
5/01/1984	Treatment	cleaned; other
4/10/1990	Loan Consideration	examined for loan
8/18/2015	Examination	Examined
10/20/2015	Treatment	Cleaned

Exhibitions

• World of Wonder. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1971-1972.
• Polyklet: Der Bildhauer der griechischen Klassik. Staedtische Galerie Liebieghaus, Frankfurt am Main. 1990-1991.
• Madame de Pompadour, Patron and Printmaker. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. 2016.

Provenance Apostolo Zeno, Venice, by 1736, [mode of acquisition unknown]; Philipp von Stosch, Vienna, ca. 1739, [mode of acquisition unknown]; William Ponsonby, second Earl Bessborough, Parkstead House, Roehampton, by 1754, [mode of acquisition unknown] [Bessborough no. 36]; George Spencer, fourth Duke of Marlborough, Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, by ca. 1765, by purchase [Marlborough no. 621]; George Spencer-Churchill, fifth Duke of Marlborough, Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, 1817, by bequest; George Spencer-Churchill, sixth Duke of Marlborough, Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, 1840, by bequest; John Spencer-Churchill, seventh Duke of Marlborough, Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, 1857, by bequest; Sale, The Marlborough Gems, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 28 June 1875, p. 97, lot 621; David Bromilow, Bitteswell Hall, Leicestershire, ca. 1875, by purchase; Julia Bromilow Jary, Bitteswell Hall, Leicestershire, 1898, by bequest; Sale, The Marlborough Gems Purchased by the Late David Bromilow, esq., Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 26 June 1899, p. 108, lot 621; Mr. Ready, London, 1899, by purchase; Sir Thomas D. Gibson-Carmichael, London, by 1926, [mode of acquisition unknown]; Joseph Brummer, Paris and New York, 1926, by purchase [Brummer inv. no. P3276]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1927, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Inscriptions [Signature] Gnaios

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters, 1927