The art of engraving gemstones can be traced back to ancient Greece in the 8th century BC and earlier. Techniques passed down to the Egyptians and then to the Romans. There were major revivals of interest in engraved gems in Europe during the Byantine era, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and again in the 18th and 19th centuries. At each stage cameos and intaglios, these skillful carvings on a minute scale, were much prized and collected, sometimes as symbols of power mounted in jewelled settings, sometimes as small objects for private devotion or enjoyment. This gem is in the neo-classical style popular in the late 1700s and early 1800s, when taste in the arts echoed the subject matter and style of the Greek and Roman masters. Thousands of gems were made in this style in Italy and brought back by British Grand Tourists, who went there to visit the newly-discovered classical antiquities and archaeological sites. Subjects from Greek mythology were popular, and certain scenes were often portrayed using versions of the same stock images. This cameo depicts the scene described by the Roman poet Ovid, recounting the reasons for the changing seasons. Pluto, the god who ruled the underworld, carried off Proserpine, daughter of the earth goddess Ceres, by force to his kingdom of the undereworld. Jupiter ordered him to release her, but before he did so Pluto made her eat pomegranate seeds, the traditional food of the dead. This ensured that for part of the year Proserpine was free to return to the earth, bringing life and Spring with her, but for the months represented by the eating of the seeds she would have to return to him in his kingdom below, and winter would reign in the world above.