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| Cameo - Bather by a Spring Roman Empire 1st century BC onyx Hermitage, Saint Petersburg Orléans Collection |
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| Cameo - Female Theatrical Mask Roman Empire 1st century AD onyx Hermitage, Saint Petersburg Orléans Collection |
The still-famous Orléans Collection of beautiful paintings and other objects of sublime rarity was assembled in Paris between 1700 and 1723 by Philippe d'Orléans, nephew of Louis XIV and, after that king's death, Regent of France during the childhood of Louis XV. The Orléans Collection remained intact until the French Revolution when it was sold by a descendant who had expediently taken the name of Philippe Égalité (though he ended on the guillotine all the same). The largest and best chunk of paintings fell into the hands of the English, but many carved gems went to Catherine the Great. They remain in Russia to this day, some from ancient Rome and others from Renaissance Europe. A sample of Orléans gems is set out here, photographed by staff at the Hermitage against a variety of colored backgrounds.
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| Intaglio - Jupiter the Thunderer Roman Empire 1st century BC carnelian Hermitage, Saint Petersburg Orléans Collection |
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| Intaglio - Emperors Balbinus, Pupienus, Gordian III Roman Empire 3rd century AD carnelian Hermitage, Saint Petersburg Orléans Collection |
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| Intaglio - Theseus Roman Empire 1st century BC - 1st century AD carnelian Hermitage, Saint Petersburg Orléans Collection |
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| Cameo - Berenice II as Isis Hellenistic Egypt 3rd century BC sardonyx Hermitage, Saint Petersburg Orléans Collection |
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| Intaglio - Serapis with Butterfly Roman Empire 1st century AD carnelian Hermitage, Saint Petersburg Orléans Collection |
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| Intaglio - Bacchus with Panther Roman Empire 1st century AD carnelian Hermitage, Saint Petersburg Orléans Collection |
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| Cameo - Zeus Olympius Roman Empire 1st century BC - 1st century AD sardonyx Hermitage, Saint Petersburg Orléans Collection |
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| The Palatine Cameo - Apollo Roman Empire 1st century BC - 1st century AD carnelian Hermitage, Saint Petersburg Orléans Collection |
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| Cameo - Two Sphinxes Italy 16th century agate Hermitage, Saint Petersburg Orléans Collection |
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| Cameo - Centenary Games under Emperor Domitian with Signs of the Zodiac Italy ca. 1575-1600 agate Hermitage, Saint Petersburg Orléans Collection |
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| Cameo - Emperor Charles V cut by Giovanni Antonio de Rossi Italy ca. 1535-45 agate Hermitage, Saint Petersburg Orléans Collection |
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| Cameo - Pope Pius IV cut by Giovanni Antonio de Rossi Italy ca. 1560 turquoise Hermitage, Saint Petersburg Orléans Collection |
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| Cameo - Hermaphroditus with Cupids Hellenistic Egypt 1st century BC onyx Hermitage, Saint Petersburg Orléans Collection |
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| Cameo - River God Acheloüs in bull-shape with human face Roman Empire 1st century AD onyx Hermitage, Saint Petersburg Orléans Collection |