Getty Museum

Ring inset with intaglio representing Fortuna

Date

225–175 B.C.

Medium

Ring: gold; gem: cornelian

Culture

Greek

Department

Jewelry

Institution

Getty Museum

This massive gold signet ring was designed to be worn across the fingers and used as a seal. Composed of an oval cabochon carnelian inset into a hollow bezel hammered from sheet gold and surrounded by four repoussé gold bands, it is an extraordinary example of a well-known type of Hellenistic ring favored in Ptolemaic Egypt. The image of the goddess of good fortune, Tyche to the Greeks and Fortuna to the Romans, is engraved into the surface of the stone in order to produce a relief impression when used as a stamp. Tyche/Fortuna is shown leaning on a pillar holding her attributes of double cornucopia and scepter. Because Ptolemy II (308 – 246 BC) uniquely commissioned the cornucopia (a symbol of fertility) to identify his queen, Arsinoe II (ca. 270 – ca. 316 BC), on the occasion of their marriage, the iconography on the ring can be associated with her court.

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