Ring shaped gem depicting a hybrid figure of fantastic insect - 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''
These fantastic depictions is one of various Roman antiquities are sourced from 'Alcuni monumenti del Museo Carrafa ', printed in 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)
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''
These fantastic depictions is one of various Roman antiquities are sourced from 'Alcuni monumenti del Museo Carrafa ', printed in 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)