CIRCA 18TH CENTURY

The subject of Eros binding Herakles, symbolic of the power of love being greater even than the strength of the greatest Greek hero, was first seen on gems of the Hellenistic period and continued into the Roman period. The present example seems to be an 18th century copy of the chalcedony gem in Florence (see no. II.1784 in A.H. Borbein, et al., Johann Joachim Winckelmann: Description des Pierres gravées du feu Baron de Stosch. Kommentar). The gem is mounted as a swivel ring in an 18th-19th century rose gold setting.