Gems, Ambers and Plaquettes. Cyriac’s Gifts and Theodore Gaza’s Verse

A metal plaquette with the image of Scylla and a mosquito in amber: these two objects, owned and given as gifts by Cyriac of Ancona, elicited in the 1440s several poetic attempts in Latin (Angelo de Grassis) and Greek (Theodore Gaza), which deserve new editions based on neglected or previously unknown manuscript witnesses. This leads to considerations on the history of Italian plaquettes cast from classical gems, on the humanist Nachleben of Martial and on Cyriac’s relationship with friends and with politically powerful figures (Alfonso of Aragon). Additionally, an Appendix presents Theodore Gaza’s epigram on Bessarion’s Homer.