Cameo with allegorical scene set in Egypt, so-called Farnese Cup (27611)

Cameo with allegorical scene set in Egypt, so-called Farnese Cup (27611)

The Farnese Cup is the largest existing cameo in the world. It takes its name from the last collection to which it belonged before becoming the property of the museum, but its history can be reconstructed in an almost unbroken sequence from 1239 to the present day: in this year it was purchased by Frederick II; it then reappeared in 1430 in the court of Samarcand or Herat, where its presence is proved by an artist’s drawing; before 1458 it had reached Naples and was part of the treasure of Alfonso V of Aragon, and was seen here by Angelo Poliziano; in 1471 it was bought in Rome by Lorenzo the Magnificent, and from his cabinet the cup passed into the hands of the Farnese family through Margaret of Austria. As regards its history prior to Frederick II, it can only be surmised that it had been brought from Egypt to Rome and from here to Byzantium, from where it returned to the West after the sack of Byzantium in 1204. The bottom of the interior of the cup is decorated with a Sphinx upon which sits a female figure with ears of wheat in her hand; to her left, on a tree, there is an imposing male bearded figure with a cornucopia; at the centre a young man stands and leans on the shaft of a plough and holds a sack full of seeds in his arm. To the right are two seated female figures, one of whom holds a phiale, while above there are two male figures transported by a cloak blown by the wind. On the bottom of the external surface is a large gorgoneion, which reflects the tragic and grandiose tone of baroque Hellenism; the Gorgon’s nose has a small hole in it, already noted in the Farnese inventory of the sixteenth century, and has been interpreted as the trace of a support for display purposes. The presence of the Sphinx provides a direct reference to Egypt, and marks the point of departure for all the interpretations of the iconography proposed up till now. According to the traditional interpretation, the scene alludes to the flooding of the Nile, Eutheneia, which can be identified as the female figure in Isiac vestments, to the fertilising power of the river, symbolised by the imposing bearded figure on the left, and to the beneficial effects for Egypt, represented by the Sphinx. Subtler attempts at explanation have also been put forward over time aimed at identifying the seven characters as the main deities of the Egyptian pantheon, even though in a moment of religious syncretism in which traditional cults were assimilated with the Eleusine mysteries, or at interpreting them as historical figures linked to a specific event, of which the cup preserves the memory. According to the first interpretation, the Sphinx represents the symbol of the Ptolomeic kingdom dominated by Isis, who can be identified by her hairstyle and clothing; on her left stands her brother-husband Osiris and the centre Horus-Harpokrates; the two female figures on the right, behind whom can be seen crops, are the Horai, the deities of the seasons and the harvest, or the personification of cultivated land and dew; the two gliding figures above are the Etesian winds which blow from the North. The reference to historical characters and events, undoubtedly a fascinating suggestion, cannot go beyond the identification of the three central figures with the three figures of the family of the Ptolemies (the female figure can be probably be identified as Cleopatra I, as is demonstrated by the comparison with her portrait in the Louvre). The association between the serene depiction on the obverse and the terrifying image of the Medusa on the reverse has been interpreted as a reference to the royal family, which knew how to govern peacefully but would adopt an inflexible approach when necessary. Some help with the chronology of the object is provided by comparison with glass objects painted in gold of Alexandrine production which indicate the presence, between the third and the second century, of a plate with an everted rim morphologically very similar to the cup. Other fundamental indicators are stylistic analysis, which associates the cup with forms of early Hellenistic date, and the type of inlay, which is extremely complex comprising least four layers, with relief engraving on both faces. As regards its function, it seems certain that it was not used for banqueting: it is more plausible that it would have been used for ritual libations.