The youthful god Mercury stands frontally on a groundline, nude but for his cloak, which hangs over his shoulders, and winged sandals. He holds his usual attributes, a money bag and a long winged caduceus. Beside him on one side is an altar embellished with a laurel garland, topped by a crab; on the other side stands a cockerel. The stone is mounted as a ring in a circa 1800 gold setting. The long caduceus is unusual for Roman depictions of the god, but it was typically shown this way on Attic black-figured vases. For one on a Roman gem in the Archaistic style see no. 68 in Wagner and Boardman, A Collection of Classical and Eastern Intaglios, Rings and Cameos. In his unpublished notes, G. Sangiorgi compared the style of this gem to the silver figure of Mercury from the Berthouville Treasure (see fig. 6 in K. Lapatin, The Berthouville Silver Treasure and Roman Luxury).
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