Circa 1800 AD or earlier An oval shaped intaglio with a bust of youthful male, possibly of Apollo facing right, full lips and thick hair arranged in luscious curls that cover his ears and fall along his neck. Stylistically, this gem is exactly that of his main portrait types in marble. Apollo was considered the standard of male beauty. He was the son of Zeus and Leto. His twin sister is Artemis. He was the God of the arts, music, healing, purification, prophecy, oracles, plague, poetry, civilization, the sun, truth, intelligence, logic, reason, and archery, he also showed men the art of medicine. He is famous for his oracle at Delphi. People traveled to it from all over the Greek world to divine the future. Size: L:22mm / W:19mm; 1.85g Provenance: Property of a London Gentleman; formerly in a private UK collection formed in the the 1990s.