Gemstone with the Portrait of Tigran the Great

The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston holds a rare gemstone engraved with a bust of the Armenian king Tigran the Great. It is made of red jasper and dates from the middle of the 1st century BC. The stone is 14 mm long.

According to the museum’s description, it was bought in Smyrna (Izmir) in 1900 by Edward Perry Warren, who sold it to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in 1901.

The king is shown in profile, wearing a tall crown decorated with a star.