Jewellery, Watches and Objects of Vertu

A Victorian gold mounted shell cameo brooch, in fitted case, the oval shell cameo carved to depict L’Aurora, the cameo collet set within a hoop surround accented with ropetwist wirework and bead decoration, in fitted case, brooch dimensions 83mm x 67mm. £500-700

The subject of the cameo, L’Aurora, is after the masterpiece fresco by Guido Reni (1575-1642). The fresco was commissioned in 1614 by the Cardinal Scipione Borghese, a prominent art patron, to adorn the ceiling of his Casino, or garden house, adjacent to his Palazzo Pallavicini-Rospigliosi, in Rome. The scene depicts Hellios Apollo, the god of the sun, taking to the skies in his chariot, accompanied by his companions, the hours, and preceded by Aurora, the goddess of the dawn, and the torch bearing cherub Lucifer, the genus of light.