A carnelian intaglio showing a reclining figure of Juno with two peacocks. Juno is shown crowned as the queen of the Gods and holding her scepter in her left hand. She is flanked by two peacocks and is lying on a bank of clouds. The pose of the goddess suggests a strong manneristic influence of Italian art of the late 16th to early 17th century. As often with the minor arts one can expect a short lag between fashions being adopted so a date of the mid to late 17th century can be mooted.
Orange/amber cornelian.
Northern Italy (?) 1600-1680.
21 by 16 mm.
CATALOGUE NOTE
Juno and the Peacock.
The peacock came to see Juno, because he could not accept with equanimity the fact that the goddess had not given him the song of the nightingale. The peacock complained that the nightingale's song was wondrously beautiful to every ear, while he was laughed at by everyone as soon as he made the slightest sound. Juno then consoled the peacock and said, 'You are superior in beauty and superior in size; there is an emerald splendour that shines about your neck, and your tail is a fan filled with jewels and painted feathers.' The peacock protested, 'What is the point of this silent beauty, if I am defeated by the sound of my own voice?' 'Your lot in life has been assigned by the decision of the Fates,' said Juno. 'You have been allotted beauty; the eagle, strength; the nightingale, harmony; the raven has been assigned prophetic signs, while unfavourable omens are assigned to the crow; and so each is content with his own particular gift.'
Do not strive for something that was not given to you, lest your disappointed expectations become mired in discontent. Aesop's Fables. A new translation by Laura Gibbs. Oxford University Press (World's Classics): Oxford, 2002
PROVENANCE
From a European collection formed in the 1980's.