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Two female saints, one with a jar and book and the other with a bird and palm, face to the left beneath a trefoil arch. Above, an angel kneels beneath a round arch and holds a censer and incense boat.
The panel has been broken and cut to conform with the arch at the top and has broken miters for hinges on the left side. The right border has been narrowed. There are traces of polychromy, particularly in the surrounds of the lower arch.
The back of the panel shows signs of having had a clasp attached to it and there are remains of a standing bearded saint in polychrome. The head of the saint is incised into the ivory.
Although the style of the carved figures on the front is broad, with apron-style drapery, that of the painted saint on the back is elegant and elongated, normally datable to about 1250-1260. While it seems likely that the ivory was painted in a second and very conservative atelier, the fact that the head of the saint is incised into the ivory suggests it was drawn by an ivory worker.
H: 6 5/8 x W: 1 3/4 in. (16.8 x 4.5 cm)
medium: ivory, traces of polychromy
style: Gothic
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
On this relief from a funerary cippus (monument), a man holding a lyre stands between two dancing women. Such pyramidal monuments are typical of the region around Chiusi and depict the dances that took place during the ritual funerary banquet. These reliefs evoke the elaborate wall-paintings of dancers found in such celebrated Etruscan tombs as the "Tomb of the Leopards" in Tarquinia and were influenced by contemporary Greek vase-paintings.
Etruscan
16 9/16 x 13 3/16 x 1 7/8 in. (42 x 33.5 x 4.8 cm)
medium: limestone
culture: Etruscan
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Deck began his career as a stove-maker, working first in Vienna, where he produced stoves for Schönbrunn Palace, and, after 1847, in Paris. At the Exposition Universelle held in Paris in 1855, he was so impressed by the Minton factory's brightly colored majolica wares that he decided to produce his own. The following year, he opened a factory for "artistic faience." Inspired by the designs and colors of Turkish Iznik wares, he developed his own range of colors, including a distinctive turquoise known as "bleu Deck." Deck employed a number of noted artists to work for him and continued to exhibit in the various international exhibitions, winning a wide following both in England and America as well as in France.
Deck derived inspiration from both Near Eastern and Asian ceramics. This example, with its bright colored plant motifs superimposed over a yellow ground with spiral patterns, was derived from Japanese 17th-century Kutani ware.
H: 2 9/16 x Diam: 19 7/16 in. (6.5 x 49.4 cm)
medium: faience
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
The Muses were the nine daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne (Memory) and were associated with various arts: Calliope (epic poetry), Clio (history), Euterpe (flute-playing), Terpsichore (lyric poetry and dance), Erato (lyric poetry), Melpomene (tragedy), Thalia (comedy), Polyhymnia (hymns and pantomime), and Urania (astronomy). In Greek myth and culture, the Muses were honored as beautiful goddesses who brought inspiration to artists. In the Hellenistic period, the Muses were widely depicted, and certain statue types have been thought to depict particular Muses. This seated Muse, holding her chin in a thoughtful gesture, is traditionally thought to be Urania, Muse of astronomy. Statues of the Muses also adorned the great scholarly complex in Alexandria known as the Mouseion, "Place of the Muses," which has given us the modern word "museum."
Greek
H: 25 7/8 x W: 12 3/4 x D: 8 11/16 in. (65.7 x 32.4 x 22 cm)
medium: marble
culture: Greek
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
The scene depicted is from a story about the bell at the temple Dôjôji. On right are two monks with prayer beads in the act of praying. At the left, the large bell of the temple is shown fallen from its tower. A jealous woman transformed into a dragon while chasing a monk she thought had promised to marry her. The monks of Dôjôji hid the monk in the bell tower. The bell fell, trapping him under it. The woman, in her dragon form, coiled her body around the bell and breathed flames on it. This killed the monk trapped inside. The story is retold in noh and kabuki plays of the same name. In the plays, a dancer comes to the temple to celebrate the installation of a new bell. She dances under the bell and when it falls on her is transformed into the dragon. A pine tree and stream are shown on the reverse.
Japanese
2 13/16 x 2 5/8 x 3/16 in. (7.13 x 6.64 x 0.5 cm)
medium: sentoku
style: Nara School
culture: Japanese
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
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This small-scale Byzantine icon depicts a half-length figure of the Virgin holding the Christ child. When the icon was mounted in its present frame by a German artist in the 14th century, it was considered to be an authentic portrait painted by Saint Luke. This claim, made in an inscription on the frame, is further emphasized by the ox, Saint Luke’s symbol, engraved on the frame’s reverse.
Byzantium (pendant); Germany, Aachen (frame), Byzantine period, 12th century (pendant); Byzantine period, 14th century (frame)
steatite, gilt silver, pearls
Overall: 6.8 x 6.3 x 1.6 cm (2 11/16 x 2 1/2 x 5/8 in.); Chain: 13.6 cm (5 3/8 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
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 use of Russian hardstones in creating precious objects became a hallmark of design from the House of Fabergé. Easily carved, these minerals were sourced largely from the western region surrounding the Ural Mountains. Fabergé's workmasters used colorful stones such as agate, lapis lazuli, rock crystal, rhodonite, and nephrite (jade), seen here in this small desk clock, to create and embellish flower studies, animal figures, and all manner of luxurious accessories.
Russia, St. Petersburg
nephrite, gold, enamel, diamonds
Overall: 7.9 x 3.4 x 2.5 cm (3 1/8 x 1 5/16 x 1 in.)
Did you know...
The face of this small luxurious desk clock features tiny pink enameled roses in place of the customary numbers along with hour and minute hands paved in diamonds.
The India Early Minshall Collection
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
The dragon and tiger are tied to the philosophical concept of yin and yang, which describes opposite but complementary forces. The dragon occupies a tiered background of waves and mist. Its luminous head emerges from the darker passages, and its narrow twisting body is serpent-like. By contrast, the close-up view of the tiger emphasizes its bulk. The tiger bends its head to lick its paw while its tail curls in the foreground. <br><br>In their original Chan Buddhist context, this pair of scrolls likely flanked a central image, like the Bodhisattva Guanyin. The silk has darkened over the centuries, and the slight reddish shading in the tiger’s tongue and nose has faded.
China, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279)
Hanging scroll; ink and slight color on silk
Painting: 125.2 x 57.2 cm (49 5/16 x 22 1/2 in.); Overall with knobs: 227.1 x 78 cm (89 7/16 x 30 11/16 in.)
Did you know...
Fachang Muqi's ink paintings, like this pair, were highly appreciated and collected in Japan.
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund