ITALIAN, PROBABLY VENICE OR MILAN, CIRCA 1600 | LARGE CAMEO WITH THE MADONNA AND CHILD

Compare with another large Hessionite garnet with a young woman in the Royal Collection catalogued as Italian, early 17th century, and with mount attributed to Jean Vangrol (inv. no. RCIN 43781). The composition is reminiscent of Venetian Mannerist sculpture of the Madonna and Child. Compare, in particular, with a bronze Virgin and Child by the celebrated Venetian sculptor Nicolò Roccatagliata at the Musée national de la Renaissance in Écouen (inv. no. C1.13.272). Note also the mid-17th-century Virgin and Child with Two Putti from the workshop of Sebastiano Nicolini (Roccatagliata's son) which is illustrated in E. W. Braun, Die Bronzen der Sammlung Guido von Rhò in Wien, Vienna, 1908, p. 15 and pl. X. Another version of the composition is in the Metropolitan Museum, New York (inv. no. 1978.516.5).