The art of gemstone carving was known in ancient Greece and Rome, and later revived in Renaissance Italy, when connoisseurs began to form rich collections of engraved stones. This example of a carved shell cameo is thought to have been produced in Nuremberg in southern Germany in the 16th century, and is almost certainly based on an engraved source. The Death of the Virgin surrounded by the twelve Apostles includes the figure of a Pope holding a censer as an observer of the scene. The city of Nuremberg had a great tradition of sculpture from medieval times onwards. Carvings such as this, depicting a religious subject, may nevertheless have been intended for a collection of curiosities (Kunstkammer), rather than for devotinal purposes.