Dr Ittai Gradel - Old Gems in New Settings

Recorded at the TimeLine Auctions London Champagne Reception and Preview at the Institute of Directors, 116 Pall Mall, London on Monday 26th February 2024.
Dr. Gradel is an authority on Roman antiquities who has held a number of positions in Danish universities and was a visiting fellow at Brasenose College, Oxford University in 2004-5. He was Associate Professor, History & Archaeology of the Roman Empire in the Department of Classics, University of Reading from 2005 to 2008. He holds an MA in Classical Archaeology from Aarhus University, Denmark and was Gold medallist of Aarhus University in 1988; he was awarded D.Phil. (Oxon) in Ancient History in 1995; his thesis was on Roman imperial cult in Rome and Italy and was later expanded and published as the monograph: ‘Emperor Worship and Roman Religion’, (Oxford University Press, 2002; 2nd ed. (paperback) 2004) and is now standard in Ancient History reading lists on the religious life of the Roman Empire.
Dr Gradel has published a large number of articles on aspects of Roman history, religion in the Roman Empire, Roman epigraphy, and archaeology. Since 2008, he has worked as a consultant and dealer in antiquities and Medieval manuscripts. His main speciality is engraved gems of the Graeco-Roman world, with proficiency also in the fields of Graeco-Roman bronze and marble sculpture, Latin and Greek epigraphy, and Medieval and later palaeography.
"Ancient gems are unique among antiquities, in that they are not just object which are put in a display case, handed into a museum or put away in storage, which in a certain sense, functionally killing them as objects. A famous archeologist, once rather uncharitably described museums as mausolea for murdered source materials. But that is not the case for gems as they often still fulfil their original purpose as objects to be used for personal adornment and for personal jewellery."
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