CIRCA 1ST CENTURY A.D.

On this gem, the dancer spins, one foot in front of the other, causing the hem of her tunic to swirl behind her. Her arms are akimbo with her hands at her chest. The subject was already popular in Greek art by the 4th century B.C. (see for example a Hellenistic gold and glass ring bezel, fig. 323 in V. Arveiller-Dulong and M.D. Nenna, Les Verres Antiques du Musée du Louvre, vol. III). The Greek versions depict the dancer wearing a flaring headdress (a kalathiskos) on her head. For a related Roman example, in glass, now in Berlin, see A. Furtwängler, Die antike Gemmen, pl. XXXVI, 23. The gem is mounted as a ring in a 19th century gold setting.