intaglio

The tiny but exquisite intaglio shows two lean but muscled warriors going at it in shallow three-dimensional space.

This Roman glass intaglio depicts the god Jupiter as an eagle.

Gems he has returned and will now go on display include an intaglio made from black glass with a bust of Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom.

The colorful intaglios — gems with incised carvings — likely fell out of signet rings worn by wealthy third-century bathers, and ended up trapped in the stone drains.

A collection-based exhibition is now in the works, focusing on intaglio prints from the Renaissance to the present, likely to open in December.