1,700-Year-Old Ancient Gold and Onyx Ring Depicts Cupid, God of Love

An exquisite onyx and gold ring from about the 300s AD depicting the god of love Cupid, found by a metal detectorist, will go on display in an English museum. Eros or Cupid was regarded by some ancients as a primordial force that preceded the other gods. A later myth is told of Cupid’s love and rescue of Psyche, a strikingly beautiful woman who became immortal when their marriage was celebrated on Olympus.

An adolescent, winged Cupid, also known as Eros, is shown naked on the nicolo (a type of onyx) stone engraving, leaning on a column and holding a torch. The short wings growing from the figure’s shoulders identified him as cupid, Sally Worrell of the Portable Antiquities Scheme wrote in the journal Britannia. The ring could have been worn by either a man or a woman.

A metal detectorist found the ring near Tangley, England, and reported it to antiquities authorities per law, says Live Science in an article about the find. The ring will be displayed in the Andover Museum in Andover after the Hampshire Museums Service acquired it.