Large sardonyx cameo with winged Minerva, Roman period, 1st-2nd century A.D., Italy. Sardonyx, 7.5 cm. (3 in.) high ; 6.3 cm. (2.5 in.) wide, 12.3 cm. (4.8 in.) total height. PLEKTRON FINE ARTS at TEFAF 2024. © 2024 TEFAF

Provenance: Collection of the Doge of Venice, Andrea Gritti (reigned 1523-1538)
Collection Henry Oppenheimer (1859-1932), London
Catalogue of the Collection of Egyptian, Greek & Roman Antiquities, Cameos and Intaglios, Formed by the Late Henry Oppenheimer, Esq., F.S.A., of 9 Kensington Palace Gardens, W.S. 22-23 July 1936, lot 216
Private collection, acquired from the above sale.

Andrea Gritti (17 April 1455 – 28 December 1538) was procurator of San Marco and Doge of the Republic of Venice from 1523 to 1538. He first came to public attention among Venetians in 1502, after several years as a successful merchant and spy in Constantinople and transitioned into the position of Bailo, a diplomat in charge of the affairs of the Republic of Venice in Constantinople. When he returned to Venice he took a leading role in the Venetian military and was later elected Doge of the Venetian Republic - a position that he keept until his death.

Gritti was a highly ambitious polititian and succeeded in becoming one of the most influential doge after the medieval era, playing an important cultural role as a patron of art and architecture.

Henry Oppenheimer (Washington 1859 - London 1932)
Henry Oppenheimer was a famous American-British collector and a prolific contributor to many loan exhibitions of works of art in London during the first third of the 20th century.

Literature: J. Boardman et al, The Art of Gem Engraving from Alexander the Great to Napoleon III, exhibited The Hakone Open-Air Museum. Fukuoka: 2008, p. 364, cat. no. 342.
E. Simon, Dei e Uomini. Rome: 1997, p. 35.
Henri-Jean Schubnel, Pierres de Lumière et Objets Précieux. Paris: 1987, p. 97.