Lapidary

The glyptic ( dt: glyptic ) is the plastic working of precious stones and gems, rock crystal and other similar types of stone with the help of cutting and grinding equipment. The word derives from the ancient Greek glyptic " glyphein ". This means as much as "hollow ", " carve out " or " dig into the stone ." The ancient glyptic is divided into eras and stylistic features as follows:

  • Minoan and Mycenaean seal around 3000-1000 BC
  • Greek geometric glyptic,
  • Cyprian Glyptik
  • " Island of Stones", Greek gems of 7 / 6 Century BC,
  • Phoenician and Phoenician - Greek scarabs of the 6th century BC,
  • Greek archaic Glyptik the 6th and early 5th century BC,
  • Greek classical glyptic of 5 / 4 Century BC,
  • Graeco -Persian gems,
  • Hellenistic gems,
  • Etruscan scarabs.
  • Italian and Roman Republican gems,
  • Gems of the Roman Empire,
  • Gnostic gems,
  • Sassanian seal,
  • Christian gems of late antiquity and the Middle Ages, and Latter-day gems.

In art history, one speaks of " gems " = engraved stones as a generic term. Whether raised or recessed engraved. In the gemstone trade but is divided into the concept: Gemme = deepened and Cameo = sublime cut. One speaks of engraved or cut stones.

Mainly it is practiced as a technique of small-scale sculpture, particularly in the manufacture of cameos, seals and the like. In addition to the ancient glyptic there is an older (3500-1500 BC) were mainly produced in Scotland used technique with the Carved Stone Balls. The oldest works of glyptic are the cylinder seals of the Sumerian Uruk period (3200/3100 BC). Also an early form was the glyptic of the Indus Valley Civilization. To a western technical refinement occurred in the 6th century BC in Greek glyptic, having already had led the stone processing to considerable height, the Cretan- Mycenaean culture. In the Roman Empire, the technique has been applied mainly in the field of portraiture, as in the Renaissance, in which the lapidary art took new artistic boom. Another highlight she learned in classicism.

A collection of original works or prints from the field of glyptic is called Daktyliothek. A sculpture gallery is a collection of sculptures and cut stones, the collection focus may lie with the sculptures.

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