The Romans incorporated this art into everyday life but especially into religious worship ceremonies. With the advent of Christianity and of Middle Ages this art fell into oblivion, so much so that it was practiced above all in the African regions overlooking the Mediterranean, until 1800 when Italy and, in particular Naples with Torre del Greco and its craftsmen.

The art of cameo manufacturing developed in Naples in the Torre del Greco area together with that of coral, thanks to trade from Africa and Central America. Torre del Greco reached the pinnacle of success thanks to its craftsmen, so much so that, in 1876, the School of Engraving on Coral and Industrial Artistic Design, turning the country into a tower for processing coral and the most important shells in the world.