Ring shaped gem depicting a hybrid figure, a mix of a butterfly and a male youth, a fusion which apparently symbolises “the spirit’s act of giving form to the human body”. The Greek word “psyche” means both butterfly and soul/spirit, and the goddess Psyche (representing the soul) was often depicted as a butterfly: hence Dante commenting that humans were “born to form the angelic butterfly”.
Featured on PDR in the collection Curiosities from the Museum of Giovanni Carafa (1778)
These fantastic depictions of various Roman antiquities are sourced from Alcuni monumenti del Museo Carrafa (1778), a wonderful catalogue of objects once found in the private museum of 18th-century antiquities collector Giovanni Carafa, the Duke of Noja (now called Noicattaro, a town near Bari in southern Italy ). Born in 1715, Carafa studied grammar and literature but soon developed an interest in scientific subjects, mainly mathematics. Around 1738 he was appointed lecturer of Optics and Mathematics at the University of Naples, and there he continued to explore his interests in the natural sciences, especially geology and mineralogy. He soon began collecting archaeological and numismatic pieces concerning southern Italy and established a small museum (which would become part of the collection of Museo di Capodimonte in…
Also appearing in the collection…
Ring shaped gem depicting a hybrid figure, a mix of a butterfly and a male youth.
Artist
Date
1778
From
Alcuni monumenti del Museo Carrafa
Source
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