Thinking about the evil eye in Roman culture for some lesson planning last night and this am. I came across these two impressions of ancient intaglios. One is said to have been taken in the 18th century in the Florentine Museum. The other is reported as taken from the Sammlung Stosch, W Cl VII 0127 = Staatliche Museen, Antikensammlung Berlin, Berlin, Deutschland, Inv.-Nr. FG 9722. The Florentine is said to be cut from the root of emerald. The Berlin intaglio is catalogued as a glass paste. Was the Berlin glasspaste made from the Florentine gem? Is the Florentine intaglio really another glass paste (I’m not sure what root of emerald means) made from the same mold as the Berlin example? Were glass pastes ever made as ‘fakes’ in the early modern period? Could the Berlin version be such?
A round up other evil eye iconography:
Not a “brothel sign” but another example of an apotropaic carving from Leptis Magna.
Liv Mariah Yarrow 
