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Medieval medicine offered few cures. Christians focused their hopes for recovery from illness or accident on their prayers to saints to intercede for them with God. Saints Cosmas and Damian, Protasius and Gervasius, were two pairs of twin brothers who were invoked for their healing of the sick. The statues are from the hospital complex at Abbeville, built between 1484 and 1492, where they may have stood in niches at the entrance to the church.
The vigorous modeling and realistic details- as in the variety in their facial expressions- are made more vivid by the use of color and give credibility to the saints' humanity. Their size, relative to the sick at their feet, conveys their superhuman powers, while the clerical garments lend them authority. The stocky proportions are typical of French sculpture of the late 15th century.
Saint Cosmas, gloves in hand, heals a man with a bloated stomach. It is likely that he originally held a vessel in his left hand. Cosmas and Damian were twin brothers who, according to legend, practiced as doctors in Cilicia in Asia Minor. They are said to have refused all payment in order to convert their patients. They were martyred in the 3rd century and are regarded as patrons of doctors and surgeons. See 27. 282, 284, 285.
French
H: 27 9/16 x W: 11 7/16 x D: 8 3/4 in. (70 x 29 x 22.3 cm)
medium: limestone with traces of paint and gilding
style: Gothic
culture: French
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Here, a "symposium," or men's drinking party, is under way. Entertainment at such events was provided by "hetairai," or female prostitutes, who also served as musicians and dancers. Reclining on dining couches are two bearded men and an unbearded youth, who tilts his head back to listen to the girl before him playing the double flutes. On the other side of the vessel, three young men are engaged in conversation. Kraters such as this one were used for mixing wine and water, as Greek and Roman authors write that drinking undiluted wine was considered barbaric and uncouth.
Greek
H: 15 3/8 x W: 13 7/8 x Diam: 12 3/8 in. (39 x 35.2 x 31.5 cm)
medium: terracotta, wheel made; red figure
style: Attic
culture: Greek
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
3 1/2 x 1 1/2 in. (8.9 x 3.8 cm)
medium: Gold and turquoise
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY 15.95.92 1915
John Stewart Kennedy Fund, 1915
Japan
lacquer, nacre and metal
Overall: 15.9 x 20.3 cm (6 1/4 x 8 in.); Outer diameter: 9.3 cm (3 11/16 in.)
Gift of Stouffer Restaurant-Inn Corp.
Robert Besnard and His Donkey (Robert Besnard et son âne), 1888. Albert Besnard (French, 1849–1934). Etching and aquatint; platemark: 23.6 x 18.1 cm (9 5/16 x 7 1/8 in.); sheet: 28.8 x 21.7 cm (11 5/16 x 8 9/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Elizabeth Carroll Shearer 2016.106
More at clevelandart.org/art/2016.106
Spain, worked in France (Paris), 20th century
lithographprinted in red
Gift of Fifty Members of The Print Club of Cleveland on the Occasion of the Fiftieth Anniversary
This manuscript was illuminated by a circle of at least five highly organized manuscript painters active in the Flemish cities of Ghent and Bruges. The principal illuminator was Alexander Bening, who painted the majority of the book's miniatures. Manuscripts produced by this circle of artists are renowned for the decoration of their borders, which typically feature a rich variety of realistically-painted flowers, birds, and butterflies. This prayer book, called a book of hours, was intended not for a cleric, but for the private devotions of a lay person-in this case, Isabella the Catholic, Queen of Spain (1451-1504). Isabella's coat of arms embellishes the book's frontispiece. It is unlikely that the book was commissioned by the Queen herself; rather, she probably received it as a diplomatic gift from someone courting her patronage, perhaps Cardinal Francisco Jimenez de Cisneros. A Franciscan friar, Jimenez was dependent upon Isabella for his advancement, first to the post of Queen's confessor in 1492, and then to Archbishop of Toledo in 1495.
Flanders, Ghent and Bruges, late 15th century
ink, tempera, and gold on vellum
Codex: 22.5 x 15.2 cm (8 7/8 x 6 in.)
Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund
The presentation scene on this seal depicts a seated, bearded deity in horned headdress and flounced robe. An interceding goddess leads a worshipper, bald in a long robe, by the hand. She is posed with one arm raised, and she also wears a flounced robe and horned headdress. An inverted crescent is suspended in the field between them. Finally, a cuneiform inscription in three registers is incorporated into the scene.
Cylinder seals are cylindrical objects carved in reverse (intaglio) in order to leave raised impressions when rolled into clay. Seals were generally used to mark ownership, and they could act as official identifiers, like a signature, for individuals and institutions. A seal’s owner rolled impressions in wet clay to secure property such as baskets, letters, jars, and even rooms and buildings. This clay sealing prevented tampering because it had to be broken in order to access a safeguarded item. Cylinder seals were often made of durable material, usually stone, and most were drilled lengthwise so they could be strung and worn. A seal’s material and the images inscribed on the seal itself could be protective. The artistry and design might be appreciated and considered decorative as well. Cylinder seals were produced in the Near East beginning in the fourth millennium BCE and date to every period through the end of the first millennium BCE.
Neo-Sumerian
Diam: 1/2 in. (1.3 cm)
medium: hematite
culture: Neo-Sumerian
Walters Art Museum, 1941, by purchase.
Continuing a practice initiated by his father, Alexander III, Tsar Nicholas II presented this egg to his mother, the dowager empress Marie Fedorovna, on Easter 1901. The egg opens to reveal as a surprise a miniature gold replica of the palace at Gatchina, located 30 miles southwest of St. Petersburg. Built for Count Grigorii Orlov, the palace was acquired by Tsar Paul I and served as the winter residence for Alexander III and Marie Fedorovna.
Fabergé's revival of 18th-century enameling techniques, including the application of multiple layers of translucent enamel over "guilloché," or mechanically engraved gold, is demonstrated in the shell of the egg. So meticulously did Fabergé's workmaster, Mikhail Perkhin, execute the palace that one can discern such details as cannons, a flag, a statue of Paul I (1754-1801), and elements of the landscape, including parterres and trees.
H: 5 x W: 3 9/16 in. (12.7 x 9.1 cm)
medium: gold, "en plein" enamel, silver-gilding, portrait diamonds, rock crystal, and seed pearls
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
One of a pair, this curtain displays colorful silk bands with woven geometric motifs, and cream bands with gold-embroidered plants, birds, six-pointed stars, and the <em>khamsah</em> (خمسة), an open five-fingered hand. Birds and the tree of life were popular good luck or fertility symbols linked to marriage. This curtain’s cosmopolitan motifs would have resonated with Jews, Muslims, and Christians alike, reflecting its creation on multiethnic and multireligious Djerba, an island off the Tunisian coast. There, both goldsmithing and gold thread embroidery were done by Jewish artisans (male and female, respectively). The fine materials suggest this curtain once hung in a wealthy home or for special occasions; interior wall hangings were typically made from rough wool.
Africa, North Africa, Tunisia, Djerba, Tunisian weaver(s) and embroiderer(s)
Silk, linen, metal, and dye
Overall: 276.8 x 136.7 cm (109 x 53 13/16 in.)
Did you know...
When first acquired over a century ago, this curtain had fringe at its lower end.
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade
7th MAY, LONDON – The London Pyramid Group meet to discuss URL Dispatch and look at how Pyramid matches URLs to views using simple pattern matching. Then having a look at some basic traversal and resource trees. See future London Pyramid Group meetups at: skillsmatter.com/user-group/ajax-ria/ldn-pyr