This 1st century CE bronze amphora has a single surviving handle that takes the form of a standing female figure. She wears an ankle-length garment and mantle, and holds her arms at her sides. The attachment upon which she stands is shaped like a theater mask of a male figure with flowing locks and a thick beard, the face of the god of wine, Dionysus-Bacchus, or a satyr. It’s possible that this amphora comes from the Villa of N. Popidius Florus at Boscoreale (excavated in 1906), but that it entered the antiquities market prior to the publication of excavations in 1921 (Gorecki 1993). This hasn’t been verified, however. An amphora of this type could have been used to hold wine at a banquet (making the mask of Bacchus particularly relevant). Comparable examples have been found in the homes of wealthy ancient Romans, such as those who owned luxurious residences on the Bay of Naples. Roman, 1-79 CE, possibly from the Villa of N. Popidius Florus at Boscoreale, in the Vesuvian area (destroyed in 79 CE by the eruption of Vesuvius). Getty Villa Museum, Pacific Palisades, California (72.AC.143)

The handles of this otherwise undecorated amphora (storage jar) are adorned with two satyr masks in profile—one facing left, the other right. An applique in the shape of a frontal female head – perhaps a maenad – decorates the base of each handle, framed by volutes above and a palmette below. These figures represent companions of the wine god Bacchus (Greek, Dionysos). An amphora of this type could have been used to hold wine at a banquet. Comparable examples have been found in the homes of wealthy Romans, such as those who owned luxurious residences on the Bay of Naples. Gorecki 1993 provides the first publication of 72.AC.131-146 (a group that includes this amphora), proposing that the material comes from the Villa of N. Popidius Florus at Boscoreale (excavated in 1906), but that it entered the market prior to the publication of excavations in 1921. This history and the identification of the objects as a group have not been verified. Gorecki also observes that three of the items in the group date to a much earlier period (72.AC.136, .137. and .145), suggesting that they might have been added in modern times. [Feb 2022] Roman, 1st century CE (before 79 CE), possibly from the Villa of N. Popidius Florus, Boscoreale (destroyed in the 79 CE eruption of Vesuvius). Getty Villa Museum, Pacific Palisades, California (72.AC.144)

The handle decoration reminds me of two bronze Dionysian vessels in the collection of the #GettyVilla, below. The first features a satyr mask, the second (probably) a maenad mask, with a tiny satyr mask above. The second may have come from the villa of N. Popidius Florus, in Boscoreale.

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Closeup of the gilded cartonnage of a Romano-Egyptian woman, at the Brooklyn Museum. Here we see her crossed arms, one hand holding a rose petal funerary wreath, one a sheaf of wheat. Each arm has a pair of snake armlets - long two-headed versions on her forearms, and smaller single-headed ones on her biceps.

On this funerary relief, a woman reaches out to lift the lid of a shallow box held by an attendant. The deceased woman must have come from a wealthy family. Numerous elements signal her high status, as do the scale and overall quality of the work. She sits on an elaborate, high-backed chair with a turned leg decorated with lions' paws and an arm support in the form of an eagle. She also wears snake bracelets, presumably gold, on her upper and lower arms. The depiction of the deceased reaching for an item held by an attendant has a long history in Greek funerary art. The small stature of the attendant and her short, cropped hair have been variously interpreted as indications that she is a young relative in mourning, or a servant or enslaved person. The attendant's presence serves to further elevate the status of the deceased, either by representing her familial connections and/or fertility, or by alluding to as someone who could afford a servant or slave. The shallow box held by the attendant raises several questions. The two holes apparent on its base are evidence of an ancient repair, perhaps in the form of two metal pins intended to hold a now lost marble component in place. The thinness of the box indicates that, like many works of ancient art, this relief was not intended as a photographic depiction of reality, but to convey the wealth and status of the deceased. Although the box appears too shallow to hold anything substantial, we can identify it as a jewelry box by comparison with other funerary reliefs that depict women pulling ribbons or jewelry out of larger, more naturalistic boxes. East Greek, from Delos (?), about 100 BCE. Getty Villa Museum, Pacific Palisades, California (72.AA.159)

One of two gold snake armlets (labeled as ‘bracelets’, which they clearly are not) on loan to the Art Institute of Chicago. Beautifully detailed, with glass eyes, I think. Many Roman sculptures of Aphrodite show her wearing snake armlets and bracelets, just like this one. Greek, Hellenistic period, 2nd century BCE, gold and glass. Art Institute of Chicago, lent by the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, 36 a-b.1994.

She wears a pair of snake armlets on each arm, introduced to Egypt by the Ptolemaic Greeks. A pair are seen on the East Greek funerary relief of an enthroned woman (ca. 100 BCE) from Delos at the #GettyVilla. An example of snake armlets can be seen at the Art Institute of Chicago, below. 🏺 3/

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Closeup of the gilded cartonnage of a woman from the Brooklyn Museum. We're looking at a 3/4 view from the left, getting a very good view of her curled and braided hairstyle (early Trajanic), her necklace (missing most of its faience inserts, although one blue one remains), her rose petal funerary wreath, and her fringed mantle.

Encaustic mummy portrait of a woman identified as Isidora via an inscription on its side. It's still inserted into the remains of its wrappings, painted to continue the portrait, showing a purple funerary tunic with two black clavi (vertical stripes) with gilded borders. She has a complex Trajanic hairstyle, her dark hair piled high in a tier of curls, with two tiny corkscrew curls in front of each ear, a style popular in Roman Egypt at the end of the 1st c. CE. Her swan-like neck sports a stunning three-tier necklace made of gold, pearls, and emeralds. She wears gold pearl-drop 'crotalia' earrings and a very impressive gold wreath with a central design that probably had religious significance. Her face is so finely painted that it could have been done in the Renaissance. Loads of highlights and shadowing, highlighting her long nose and large dark eyes. Four pigments were used to create her lifelike red lips.

Her hairstyle is an elaborate Roman style coiffure, with tight rows of curls across her forehead. The little curls around her ears, however, are specific to late 1st c. CE Roman Egypt, as can be also seen in the mummy portrait of Isidora at the #GettyVilla. 🏺 2/

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Glass plaque fragment with a theater mask Mosaic plaque fragment with many canes of white, black, and red glass placed at a variety of angles into a matrix of turquoise glass to form what was essentially a loaf, which is then sliced into indi...

Another theater mask says hi from the #GettyVilla.

flic.kr/p/2rfJjsV

Isidora wears a traditionally hued lavender mantle. Black clavi (woven stripes) with gilded trim extend vertically from the panel onto the linen of the shroud, expanding the portrait over the linen wrappings. In its original condition we would expect Isidora's red shroud with painted clavi to extend to her ankles and her forearms and hands to be depicted crossing her torso in a manner similar to other female red-shroud mummies. Like these women, Isidora was likely to have been depicted holding a rose-petal wreath in her upraised right hand: the tip of a gold-speckled rose wreath can be seen overlapping her proper left clavus. Isidora's tightly braided Trajanic hairstyle is wrapped into a plaited bun secured by a gilded pin to the top of her head. A silver hair ornament (painted in several shades of gray) can be seen to the left. Surmounting her brow is a large, impressive golden wreath with a central design perhaps having religious significance. Curls frame her face and corkscrew locks drop in front of her ears in accordance with a style popular during the latter years of the first century AD. Carbon 14 analysis of the linen at 43 BC – AD 122 accords with these stylistic traits. Isidora's impressive earrings are distinguished by their unique size and luxurious materials. They consist of a horizontal gold bar suspended from a single pearl; itself suspending four gold vertical bars and each terminating in a pearl. She wears three necklaces connected at the front by an amethyst set into an elaborate gold mount. The topmost necklace appears to be of emeralds, pearls and gold beads; the central necklace is composed of connected gold plaques and the lowermost, largest and most elaborate has quite wide emeralds interspersed with square gold beads similar to those of the center necklace. Encaustic on linden wood; gilt; linen. Attributed to the Isidora Master (Romano-Egyptian, active 100 - 125). Romano-Egyptian ca. 100 CE Getty Villa Museum (81.AP.42)

Another example of a ‘red shroud’ mummy is the famed Isadora, below. Her portrait is continued onto the surface of the shroud, and when intact her purple tunic with black clavi to extend down to her feet, possibly with gilded funerary figures. 🏺 4/

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The painted mummy portrait depicts a young man with a light mustache and loose, curly hair. His name, Herakleides, has been written above his toes facing up towards his face. Some areas of the portrait – such as the background, the wreath around his head, and the decorative square surrounding the panel – have been enhanced with gilding, added after it was bound in the linen wrappings. Belonging to a small group of mummies wrapped in shrouds painted red (a color associated with life and regeneration in Egyptian religion), this one is decorated along the length of the body with religious figures connected with Egyptian funerary rites. They include Osiris, Horus, and a winged goddess combining the identities of Nut, Nephthys, and Isis. One depicts an ibis; a CAT scan has revealed a mummified ibis inside the mummy wrappings, suggesting that Herakleides may have been associated with the Egyptian god Thoth, and therefore possibly a priest, scribe or worshipper. Painted on the footcase: ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΔΗΣΘΕΡΜΟΥ "Herakleides, the son of [the lady] Thermouthis (or Thermoutharion)" (after Corcoran and Svoboda 2010, with further discussion). The second portion of the text had been undecipherable until viewed under infra-red light. Romano-Egyptian ca. 120-140 CE Findspot: unknown (likely the Hawara area?) Human and bird remains; linen, pigment, beeswax and wood Getty Villa Museum, Malibu, California (91.AP.6)

The woman's portrait is painted in encaustic - hot pigmented wax - on limewood. Her turban-like hairstyle, clothes, and jewelery (gold and pearl drop earrings and large pearl necklace) are inspired by contemporary Roman court fashions from the end of the Hadrianic era, to perhaps the beginning of the reign of Antoninus Pius. She seems quite young, and has a sweet smile, which must have broken the hearts of her family when they saw the portrait (which probably would have been created close to or after death). There's a very unfortunate burn in the center of the face, which I've seen once before when 19th century chemicals reacted badly with heat, and I'd read that Flinders Petrie, who excavated this mummy, had performed some 'field surgery' on these portraits, pouring hot wax over the portraits to seal them before ... well, probably before they wound up like the middle of this portrait. Petrie’s own field notes from 1888 describe it as in ‘a perfect state’, with no mention of this burn. Romano-Egyptian From the cemetery at Hawara, Fayum, about 130-140 CE Flinders Petrie excavations Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (inv. AN1888.832)

Other examples of intact Romano-Egyptian mummy portraits are shown below.

The mummy on the left is in a rare red shroud with gilded religious funerary figures. #GettyVilla

The mummy of the young woman on the right has linen diamonds gold studs. #AshmoleanMuseum 🏺 3/

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Venus, the goddess of love, crouches low as she washes herself - her head, arms and feet are missing. With her right knee on the ground and her left sharply flexed, she turns her upper body and appears to raise her right arm. The dynamic movement not only reveals the goddess’s voluptuous sensuality, but also encourages the viewer to rotate the figurine in order to appreciate it fully. Held in the hand, it would have taken on the appearance of human flesh. The statuette is a miniature variant of an original sculpture that is most commonly dated to the mid-to-late third century BC. Copies and replicas were especially popular in the Roman period, with artists reproducing the original in large numbers in a variety of media and sizes and with slight variations of pose (compare to the Getty Villa’s life-size marble ‘Crouching Venus’ - 55.AA.10). Roman patrons often commissioned miniature copies of large-scale Greek public art for their private use, decorating their homes with the statuettes. The use of the valuable medium of rock crystal marks this particular piece as a prestigious luxury item for a rich patron. The ancient Greeks thought that rock crystal was ice frozen so deeply that it could never melt. Therefore, this Aphrodite-Venus, born from the sea, is made of 'water'. Roman, 1st c. BCE Getty Villa Museum (78.AN.248)

Rock crystal is derived from the Greek word krustallos which means ‘ice’. The ancient Greeks thought that rock crystal was ice frozen so deeply - by magic - that it could never melt.

Venus, below, was born from the sea, so 'frozen ice' is an appropriate medium of portrayal. 🏺 2/

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Early morning visitors at the Getty Villa. Getting ready to lead school tours
#gettyvilla #gettymuseum

Terracotta hydria (water jar) with Hercules and Iolaos slaying the Hydra The subject of the figural decoration of this hydria (water jar) is Herakles and Iolaos slaying the Hydra. Painted in black figure, the scene occupies the upper register on the body of the vessel bet...

This terracotta hydria (water jar) will be one of the featured items in the Legion of Honor #Etruscan exhibition. It depicts Herakles (Hercl) and Iolaos slaying an incredible multi-headed hydra. 🏺

From Caere, ca. 520-510 BCE. #GettyVilla 📸 me

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Getty Villa, Los Angeles, California, 2013. #TravelPhotography #Sunset #SunsetArt #Photography #GettyVilla #Architecture #LosAngeles #Peace #California #Memories #Explore #Nature #NaturePhotography #Zen #CloudCover #SkyscapePhotography #Skyscape #LightPhotography #LinearArt #WaterscapePhotography

This white face relief looks like a shocked or angry magistrate. There is blue, red, and white tile work behind the face

This white face relief has a shocked look on his face, like he just witnessed something horrific. There is blue, red and white tile work behind the face.

Faces from the Getty Villa Museum yesterday. #LA #GettyVilla #Museum

From the outdoor fountain in the East Garden.

On the reverse of this rectangular marble slab is a very shallow relief depicting a mask of the balding and bearded elderly satyr Silenos, companion of Dionysos. It faces left, with a thyrsos (Dionysian magical staff, topped with ivy leaves) and a cista (wicker basket, probably a cista mystica, part of the Dionysian mysteries).

On these reliefs, the main side is deeply carved, while the backside, as seen here, is shallowly cut. This depicts the mask of Silenos with a thyrsus and a cista (basket). Appropriate imagery, as theater was Dionysos' domain. 🏺2/ #GettyVilla #ancientbluesky

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Here revealed is the full prometopedion, which covered the full forehead and snout of a horse. The rams' head cheekpieces of the warrior's head flare out and provide extra protection for the eyes of the horse. The Gorgoneion - the head of a Gorgon or Medusa - is at the bottom of the snout, looking fierce with bared teeth and a set of fangs.

This object is known as a prometopidion, horse forehead armor, as you can see from the shape of the entire object. The staring eyes of the warrior and the Gorgoneion on the nose are apotropaic - protective. Made in southern Italy (part of Magna Graecia). 🏺 2/

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The same two busts in one photo, taken from a right angle. The older boy's bust is up on a plinth, higher than the younger boy. You can clearly see the outline where the acanthus used to be attached to the older boy's chest. The hair is very much like the style seen during the Neronian era, wavy and combed forward.

Under Nero, the Iuventus gained prominence, becoming a favored body for elite young men, marked by Nero's own title Princeps Iuventutis (Head of the Youth) and special events like the Iuvenalia games, a blend of military training, social bonding, and cultic practice. 🏺 2/

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Mycenaean and Minoan artifacts (including The Kingdom of Pylos exhibition) Explore this photo album by Stephen Chappell (aka Chapps) on Flickr!

You can see many more Mycenaean and Minoan artistic and cultural treasures in this Flickr album, which includes many of the pieces from 'The Kingdom of Pylos' exhibit, which ends tomorrow at the #GettyVilla. 🏺 3/

flic.kr/s/aHBqjCjDa2

Oval green jasper gemstone with an engraved scene of the jackal-headed god Anubis standing behind a funerary bier, which is shaped like a striding lion. Anubis holds an ointment jar over the mummified body of his father, Anubis, who is fully wrapped in bandages.

This engraved Romano-Egyptian magical gem (green jasper) depicts the Egyptian god and psychopomp Anubis holding an ointment jar and standing over a lion-shaped bier. The mummified body of Osiris lies on top. 💀🏺 #ancientbluesky 1/

100-125 CE. #GettyVilla
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Cupid, the winged child-god of love, lies with his right arm cast around his head, a typical motif to denote sleep. His missing left arm was probably limply extended. The strap for a quiver rests across his chest. Beneath him is a lion’s skin that covers a rocky surface—part of the tail is visible between his feet, and a paw to the right. The lion’s skin is an attribute of Hercules, and one tale tells of Cupid stealing his club, quiver, and lion’s skin, suggesting that even the mightiest are vulnerable to the playful, yet cunning, designs of love. In this sculpture, these symbols of the hero's strength are used to signal the irresistible power of Cupid. The motif of the sleeping Cupid is found in both poetry and art, and surviving sculptures of this type probably derive from a Greek sculpture of the Hellenistic period (323-31 B.C.). The image was used by the Romans in a variety of ways: as a fountain or garden ornament, as a dedication to the gods, and, as was probably the case with this sculpture, as a funerary monument. Sleeping Cupids are often depicted on tomb monuments and sarcophagi, equating death with restful slumber. The image of the sleeping child-god was especially popular on children's graves. Roman, 50-100 CE Marble Getty Villa Museum (73.AA.95)

In the Roman period, Sleeping Eros statues decorated villa gardens, fountains, and tombs. In the latter use, these sleeping toddlers equated death with a long and peaceful sleep. 🏺 3/

Roman, 50-100 CE. #GettyVilla
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Gilded silver rhyton with horse protome Silver rhyton with gilding and a horse protome. The figure of the horse has glass eyes and red garnet studs on its bridle. It has a gilded blanket made from the skin of a panther (or wolf?) on its bac...

Interesting. I’ve seen this pop up here and there over the years. Is there a findspot listed?

Reminds me of the one below, from an anonymous private collection, and briefly on display at the #GettyVilla. No decoration on the bell, though. flic.kr/p/2qZ765n

This vessel features a likeness of a striking young man with hair down past his ears, but it is an idealized portrait rather than a depiction of a specific individual. With its wishbone-shaped handle, long neck, and slightly flared mouth, this large head flask likely functioned as a pitcher. Head flasks began to be made in the first century A.D. and continued to be produced into the fourth and fifth century. An extremely popular type of glassware, head flasks were mold-blown. For this flask, the glassmaker used a two-part mold for the front and back halves of the head. These two halves were joined together and, by inflating the molten glass into the mold, the design was imparted to the glass. The flask's appearance has changed significantly over the centuries. On the neck and right side of the head, a flaky layer, with a rainbow-like appearance has formed. This layer, known as iridescence, was not an effect produced by the glassmaker but is a by-product of aging and weathering. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, glassmakers like Louis Comfort Tiffany and Emile Gallé deliberately created an iridescent effect for their glass. Collectors today greatly value iridescence in ancient glass. Roman, Eastern Mediterranean, 4th-5th century CE. Getty Villa Museum (2004.44)

Although the color of the iridescent glass head flask from the #GettyVilla, below, is quite different from the transparent cobalt blue of the example at the #MetMuseum, it was probably made at the same workshop and perhaps from the same mold. Tiffany would have drooled! 🏺

Meanwhile life in California, suite 🌴🏞️
#GettyVilla #Manzanar #HagenCanyon #RedRockCanyonStatePark

Fascinating video that very clearly shows how these ancient Roman glass vessels were made, including these two - a glass wine flask in the shape of a cluster of grapes (1-300 CE, #GettyVilla), and a glass cup signed by Ennion (1st half of 1st c. CE, #MetMuseum). 🏺 1/

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One of two gold snake armlets (labeled as ‘bracelets’, they seem extra long for that) on loan to the Art Institute of Chicago. Beautifully detailed, with glass eyes, I think. Many Roman sculptures of Aphrodite show her wearing snake armlets and bracelets, just like this one. Greek, Hellenistic period, 2nd century BCE, gold and glass. Art Institute of Chicago, lent by the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, 36 a-b.1994.

On this funerary relief, a woman reaches out to lift the lid of a shallow box held by an attendant. The deceased woman must have come from a wealthy family. Numerous elements signal her high status, as do the scale and overall quality of the work. She sits on an elaborate, high-backed chair with a turned leg decorated with lions' paws and an arm support in the form of an eagle. She also wears snake bracelets, presumably gold, on her upper and lower arms. The depiction of the deceased reaching for an item held by an attendant has a long history in Greek funerary art. The small stature of the attendant and her short, cropped hair have been variously interpreted as indications that she is a young relative in mourning, or a servant or enslaved person. The attendant's presence serves to further elevate the status of the deceased, either by representing her familial connections and/or fertility, or by alluding to as someone who could afford a servant or slave. The shallow box held by the attendant raises several questions. The two holes apparent on its base are evidence of an ancient repair, perhaps in the form of two metal pins intended to hold a now lost marble component in place. The thinness of the box indicates that, like many works of ancient art, this relief was not intended as a photographic depiction of reality, but to convey the wealth and status of the deceased. Although the box appears too shallow to hold anything substantial, we can identify it as a jewelry box by comparison with other funerary reliefs that depict women pulling ribbons or jewelry out of larger, more naturalistic boxes.

She’d have gone for more upmarket bracelets and armlets of solid gold, w/ gem or glass-inlaid eyes. The Greek woman in the funerary relief below has armlets and bracelets on *both* arms (Greek, Delos, abt. 100 BCE - #GettyVilla).

Nice 2nd c. BCE example from the Art Inst. of Chicago.

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A black and white photograph by Seán Duggan of the broken head of a roman statue where the top half of the head is missing, leaving only the nose and lower portion of the head. In the blurred background are bookshelves and a man pausing to look back at the carved stone head.

Contemplating a Broken Head

Museums are some of my favorite places for street photography. It's not photography out on the streets, of course, but I find that I use many of the same methods.

#blackandwhitephotography #streetphotography #museums #fujifilmx100v #gettyvilla

Looking through a doorway into an ornately decorated marble hallway with a slightly open door across the hall.

What’s waiting on the other side? #gettyvilla

Just came back from the Getty Villa and the Pylos Griffin Warrior exhibit. OMG. So fantastic. I didn't realize the objects were so small. #gettyvilla #pylosexhibit

September Travel Photo A Day

Getty Villa Malibu

#travelphotography #travel #wanderlust #GettyVilla #GettyMuseum #Malibu

The gem is attributed to the Greek engraver Solon, who worked in Roman imperial circles, fashioning idealized portraits of the emperor Augustus, his sister, and images of mythological figures. The artistically similar gem below at the #GettyVilla is also attributed to him. 2/ 🏺

flic.kr/p/2reHest

A few years ago, I visited the Getty Villa for the first time with my niece Jalyssa — and yep, she took this photo! 📸 Such a beautiful spot with ocean views, art, and tons of photo ops.

Heads up: tickets are free but limited, so grab them in advance!

#GettyVilla #LatinaTraveler #LAHiddenGems

A stylized cuttlefish decorates this miniature Mycenaean hydria, a three-handled jar used for carrying water. This type of vase made its first appearance around this time and became a standard shape throughout the history of Greek vase making. Somewhat like an octopus, the cuttlefish is a sea creature with eight short tentacles, as well as two long ones used for catching prey. On this vase, the artist extended the two long tentacles, wrapping them all the way around the body of the vessel. The eyes of the creature are depicted as concentric circles near the sides of the body. The cuttlefish is painted in brownish-black over a cream slip, while details on both the body and the tentacles are highlighted in added white.During the Bronze Age, Minoan artistic styles exerted a notable influence on nearby cultures. Lively trade networks operated around the Mediterranean, and Crete played a decisive role in spreading a new naturalism in the visual arts. Mycenaean figured pottery produced on mainland Greece often reflects Minoan-inspired themes and techniques that originated on the island of Crete. Animated marine motifs adopted from Minoan pottery appear on Mycenaean vessels beginning in about 1500 B.C. Over the centuries, these pictures became more stylized, as can be seen on this vase.

This tiny Mycenaean hydria (water jar) features a very stylized cuttlefish design, showing Minoan influences. The eyes float off the body! But there's a special surprise if you look closely enough ... 👇 🏺 #ancientbluesky 1/

1300-1200 BCE. #GettyVilla
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The bottom of this carved mottled yellow jasper scarab has an engraving of a grasshopper, perched on a stem of grass, surrounded by leaves. The engraving is enhanced by the stunning mottled yellow jasper. This level of engraving mastery is likely the result of an advancement in lapidary technology, namely the use of the diamond point drill (seemingly first occurred during the 5th century BCE). This afforded the engraver the ability to cut freeform, allowing for a level of naturalism in the details not previously possible. The mottled yellow jasper gem is a mixture of bold orange with veins of black and grey. The engraved lines of the grasshopper catch the light, making it visible if held in just the right way. In Christie's original listing for this scaraboid, their expert felt that the exceptional quality of the engraving in combination with the choice of unusual mottled jasper suggested a connection to the gem engraver Dexamenos of Chios, whose signature is found on four gems. Several of the signed gems are on mottled jaspers, as are the related gems attributed to him. A similar grasshopper on a sheath of wheat on a carnelian scarab in the British Museum, while unsigned, is traditionally associated with Dexamenos. Greek, Attic (?), ca. 425-400 BCE. Mottled yellow jasper. 2.1 × 1.8 × 0.8 cm (13/16 × 11/16 × 5/16 in.) Getty Villa Museum, Pacific Palisades, California (2019.13.4)

This gorgeous mottled yellow jasper scaraboid gem has a grasshopper engraved on its underside. Difficult to see, it's a masterpiece of the art, possibly made by Dexamenos of Chios or a follower. Grasshoppers had several meanings to the ancient Greeks ... 🏺 1/

435-400 BCE. 📸 me #GettyVilla