Category | Sub-category | Detail | Identity; Possible Symbolism; Definition | |
ANGEL | Adult | anchor | symbolizes Hope; if eyes cast up to star: hope for someone at sea Anchor of Hope | |
lilies | Archangel Gabriel, the Annunciation Angel | |||
raised finger | Archangel Gabriel, the Annunciation Angel | |||
riding chariot | Nike, Goddess of Victory (no halo) | |||
sword, dragon | Archangel Michael, subduing Satan | |||
writing | on shield or tablet: Nike, Goddess of Victory, inscribing the names of victors |
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Child | archery equipment: bow, arrow, quiver | Cupid/Eros | ||
head with wings | cherub, a Biblical rather than Greek or Roman image, often based on the well-known ones at the bottom of Raphael's Sistine Madonna; Cupid appears more often on cameos than cherubs do | |||
torch | with Apollo or Aurora/Eos: Genius of Light; most other settings: Cupid/Eros; Cupid can appear in scenes with mortals or other gods to symbolize that a couple are falling in love or are lovers/spouses, not because he is traditionally a participant in their tale | |||
ANIMALS | Butterfly | Psyche; by extension, the soul, spiritual love | ||
Camel | setting is Middle East, often Biblical, e.g., Rebecca at the Well | |||
Dog | associated with hunting (see Hound); Cupid & his Dog; in more allegorical scenes symbolizes fidelity | |||
Dolphin | may accompany any of the sea deities; Cupid riding: after B. Thorvaldsen's Cupid at Sea | |||
Elephant | headdress | possibly Alexander the Great | ||
Goat | common in scenes with Cupid or Bacchus, symbolizes lust; in country village scenes, presumably more innocuous | |||
Horse | with rider | St. George; Amazon; Napoleon |
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winged | Pegasus: sprang from Medusa's body after decapitation by Perseus; tamed by Athena; given to the Muses; lent to Bellerophon to aid in slaying the Chimaera; may appear with any of these figures | |||
Horses | drawing chariot | see chariot | ||
in water/waves | with bearded man: Poseidon/Neptune as god of horses | |||
Hound(s) | Diana/Artemis; Actaeon; Orion; other hunters | |||
Lamb | held by woman, no halo: Allegory of Innocence; woman with halo: St. Agnes ( a pun, L. agnus = lamb) | |||
Lion | with Cupid | Cupid riding: after a work by B. Thorvaldsen; Cupid walking next to: after Thorvaldsen's Cupid on Earth | ||
Lion's head | with mane, as headdress |
worn in place of armor by Hercules/Heracles; by Queen Omphale while Hercules must wear women's clothes; by Alexander the Great, as association with Heracles | ||
Panther, panther skin | worn by Bacchus/Dionysus, sometimes by female followers | |||
Ram's horns | curled, directly on head | symbol of Egyptian Ammon; on bearded male: Ammon-Zeus; on beardless male: Alexander the Great, Apollo if figure is radiant | ||
Snake(s), serpent(s) | as hair: Medusa; wrapped around staff, a caduceus: Asclepius, sometimes Mercury/Hermes; fed by woman: Hygeia/Salus; leading woman who pulls at neckline of robe: Nemesis; biting woman's heel or near woman on ground: Eurydice (Orpheus &); at woman's breast: Cleopatra | |||
Spider | Arachne | |||
Stag, deer, hind | representative of woodland lfe under Diana's protection; being pursued with hounds or restrained by Diana/Artemis: Actaeon | |||
APPLE | in scenes of Judgment of Paris; (also Pomona) | |||
ARMOR | Breast plate, aegis | Medusa | Athena/Minerva | |
Cuirass | "scaled" | armor for the torso composed of many small plates: Athena/Minerva |
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Helmet | face on visor | Athena/Minerva in satyr-faced helmet |
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monster/dragon crest | Perseus; Athena/Minerva, an allusion to her role in the Perseus story | |||
owl | Athena/Minerva | |||
Pegasus | Athena/Minerva, an allusion to her role in the Perseus story | |||
plumed | Elaborately plumed: Athena/Minerva; shorter, trimmed: Mars/Ares, Trojan War hero | |||
"scaled" | covered in small plates: Athena/Minerva, substitution for "scaled" cuirass when only head is shown |
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sphinx crest | Athena/Minerva, no tale connects them, just meant to be fearsome | |||
wolf, suckling boys | Minerva, as patroness of Rome, with founders Romulus & Remus, who were raised by a she-wolf | |||
woman and centaur | Hercules/Heracles with the centaur Nessus carrying off Deianeira; he is more typically shown wearing a lion skin | |||
on ground or cloud surface | winged woman: Nike with spoils of war | |||
Shield | Medusa | Athena/Minerva | ||
round, with spike or decorated center | a clipeus; carried by woman, rule out drum carried by bacchante | |||
BABY | Boy | with wings | Cupid; cherub | |
without wings | with wine-related elements, sometimes drinking with Cupid: Roman Bacchus; generic putto (pl., putti) or Greek erotes, plural of Eros | |||
BASKET | Flowers | carried by female | Aurora/Eos; Spring; frequently ambiguous | |
BIRDS | Dove | 2 drinking from fountain or bowl | perhaps just what they seem to be; in Christian setting refreshment of the soul; wellspring of faith; see Pliny's Doves |
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2 or more flying about female figure or drawing chariot | Venus/Aphrodite; can also appear in scenes with Cupid to link him with Venus | |||
4 perched on rim of bowl | Pliny's Doves; aka Capitoline doves | |||
dove, held to breast | ancient image indicating sorrow for a dear departed; the dove represents the soul, now lifeless, a mourning image; see Pliny's Doves |
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flying away from reaching figure | soul escaping earthly bonds, a mourning image; see Pliny's Doves |
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flying, radiant and/or head downward | Holy Spirit/Holy Ghost, Christian symbology; often with radiance around it | |||
Eagle | proper animal of Zeus/Jove, can be his servant or the god in that form, servant if carrying thunderbolts; carrying boy or youth: Zeus/Jove abducting Ganymede; being fed by girl: Hebe; often with Aurora/Eos, also Day, because it hunts by day; Cupid riding: after B. Thorvaldsen's Cupid in Heaven | |||
Owl | Night/Nyx, it hunts by night; Athena/Minerva |
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Peacock | proper animal of Hera/Juno |
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Phoenix | mythical bird that was reborn from its own ashes, not commonly seen on cameos; the European eagle, unlike the American bald eagle, has a tuft of feathers on the head, leading to its sometimes being confused with the phoenix | |||
Rooster, cock, cockerel | proper animal of Mercury/Hermes |
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Swan | Zeus/Jove in that form with woman: Leda & the Swan; also sometimes in the company of Venus/Aphrodite or Cupid/Eros, occasionally with Apollo |
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BLOCK | Stone | head on top | a herm: head can be Mercury/Hermes, guideposts & shrines for travelers; ithyphallic figure, Priapus ; other figures may appear in this form, other clues in the composition can generally provide ID | |
BOOK(S) | Mary Magdalen sometimes appears with a book/Bible; often an attribute of a sibyl | |||
BOWL | Shallow | a patera, used for pouring libations; Hebe offering Zeus nectar, Hygeia feeding/making offering to snake; element of many classical worship scenes | ||
BRAZIER | on tripod, smoking | in scene with veiled woman: priestess or seer; in scene with people bearing or putting into flame wine or sprinkling something into flame: devotees, look for other clues in scene of whom; woman with snake sprinking herbs in flame: Hygeia |
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BREAST | Bare | female figure | wearing diadem, often, lowered chin: Venus/Aphrodite; drooping eyelids and/or snake on breast: Cleopatra |