The subject of ‘Cornelia and Her Jewels’, a moral tale from Roman history, was popular with neoclassical artists such as Angelica Kauffman (1741–1807), although the version on this contemporary enamel plaque does not appear to derive from her or any of the better-known engraved sources. Cornelia, daughter of the Roman general Scipio Africanus Major, was the wife of Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus and mother of their two sons, Tiberius and Titus, later known as the Gracchi. The story tells that she was visited one day by another Roman matron who was proudly showing off her splendid jewellery. In contrast, modest Cornelia indicated her two young sons, saying that they were her jewels.

minimize...