Abstract

Cardinal Pietro Barbo, Pope from 1464 under the name of Paul II, was the most important gem collector of the 15th century. The extraordinary wealth of his collection is demonstrated by the inventory of Barbo’s possessions, begun on 18 July 1457. More than eight hundred cameos and intaglios are described in this document, but less than forty are traced to date. Starting from the accurate descriptions in the inventory, the article analyzes some new identification proposals of cameos from Barbo’s treasury. In some cases, these are gems with a debated chronology, for which the Barbo provenance necessarily entails a reexamination of their dating.