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These brooches functioned as garment clasps (much like the generally larger fibulae) and are distinctive for their decorative enamels. The art of enameling was highly popular among the conquered peoples who lived on the outskirts of the Roman empire, chiefly the Celts and the Gauls. Though the enameling technique was practiced by the Romans themselves on small objects, the brightly colored decoration readily appealed to "barbarian" taste. By the AD 200s, enameled brooches like these were being made in abundance by the native peoples of Britain and Gaul (modern France and Belgium).
Gallo-Roman or Romano-British, Migration period
bronze and champlevé enamel
Overall: 5.3 x 5.3 x 1.6 cm (2 1/16 x 2 1/16 x 5/8 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Alfred Jacob Miller was a prolific sketcher. He filled many journals with drawings and captions from the time he was studying in Paris and Rome (1833) until the 1870's. The varied interests of Miller are clearly reflected in these sketches: rural sites, studies after Old Master paintings, illustrations of literature, and comical scenes and characters.
This sketch comes from the family album of L. Vernon Miller, which contains works that have passed down through the Miller family directly from the artist.
H: 9 1/4 x W: 5 1/8 in. (23.5 x 13 cm)
medium: pencil, ink, and wash on white paper
given to Walters Art Museum, 1994.
[1] passed directly from the artist down through his family.
This squat lekythos depicts Eutychia, Eunomia, and Paidia. On the left Eutychia stands frontally, looking right. She holds a chest on her left forearm at waist level; her right hand hangs down by her side holding a necklace. She wears a girded peplos, diadem, necklace, earring, and bracelets. Next is Eunomia who walks solemnly to the right, holding a necklace between her outstretched hands. She wears a girded peplos, necklace, bracelets, earring, diadem and a decorated band which holds her hair in place. On the right Paidia stands turned partially to the left, holding a chest. She wears a girded peplos, necklace, earring, and bracelets; her hair is tied in back. A diphros with a thick, patterned cushion stands beside her.
The personifications on this vase, from left to right are to be understood as Good Luck, Good Order, and Games and Play. They are depicted as normal Athenian women and do nothing which might associate their actions with the literal meanings of their names.
Greek
H: 8 x Max. Diam: 4 1/2 in. (20.3 x 11.4 cm)
Diam at mouth: 1 11/16 in. (4.3 cm)
Diam at foot: 3 5/16 in. (8.4 cm)
medium: terracotta
style: Attic
culture: Greek
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
The ancient Egyptians donated figures of their gods for use in temple rituals; smaller images served as amulets to ensure divine protection. Goddesses in particular were viewed as protective deities. From earliest times, Egyptian venerated a wide circle of feline-headed female deities, such as Sakhmet, Tefnut, Wadjet, and Bastet. Leonine goddesses, usually Sakhmet or Wadjet (daughters of the sun-god Re), were often associated with an obelisk - a symbol of the sun god - demonstrating both their close relationship to the supreme god and his powers of renewal.
Egyptian
H: 10 3/16 x W: 2 7/8 x D: 4 5/8 in. (25.9 x 7.3 x 11.7 cm)
H with tangs: 11 x W: 2 7/8 x D: 4 5/8 in. (27.9 x 7.3 x 11.7 cm)
H with base: 12 5/16 x W: 3 5/16 x D: 7 1/2 in. (31.2 x 8.4 x 19.1 cm)
medium: bronze
culture: Egyptian
dynasty: 26th-30th Dynasty
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Pissarro, son of the French Impressionist artist Camille Pissarro, moved to England in 1890. By 1894 he and his wife, Esther Bensusan Pissarro, had bought a printing press and established the Eragny Press. Influenced by William Morris, they were involved in every step of the production process: designing, cutting the woodblocks, setting type, and printing. The first book published by Ergany Press, The Queen of the Fishes, is based on an old fairy tale in which a peasant boy and girl escape the hardships of their lives by fantasizing that they have been turned into a giant oak and a splendid fish, respectively.
England, 19th century
woodcut printed in gray
Book page: 19.2 x 13.3 cm (7 9/16 x 5 1/4 in.)
Gift of Henry H. Hawley for the fiftieth anniversary of The Print Club of Cleveland
Gaggini was a member of a large family of sculptors whose Palermo workshop supplied monumental religious sculptures for the cathedrals of Palermo and Messina in Sicily and Montelione in Calabria. After 1507 Antonello himself worked for 15 years to produce marble sculptures for Palermo Cathedral. This figure of the legendary virgin martyr, Saint Margaret, was probably commissioned for one of these ecclesiastical foundations, possibly the chancel of Palermo Cathedral. The saint is shown reading from a book of hours (a sign of her piety) and trampling upon a dragon, the symbol of Satan. The dragon became the attribute by which she is recognized in sacred art.
Italy, Sicily, Palermo, 16th century
marble
Overall: 139.7 x 54.6 x 18.2 cm (55 x 21 1/2 x 7 3/16 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
Carved from a single piece of sandstone, this Buddha is cloaked in a sheer robe that falls from his broad shoulders, revealing his arms, torso, and knees. The Buddha’s spiritual strength is expressed by his erect posture and frontal pose. The size of his hands is exaggerated, as they communicate important information to the devotee: the Buddha’s open right hand with palms facing outward is a hand gesture (or "mudra") that signals the bestowal of grace.
The figure’s head and feet would have been carved from the same block of sandstone and were likely lost when this image was removed from its original temple context.
Thai
Object H: 45 × W: 17 × D: 6 1/2 in. (114.3 × 43.18 × 16.51 cm)
Base H: 26 1/2 × W: 17 × D: 11 1/2 in. (67.31 × 43.18 × 29.21 cm)
Overall H with base: 71 1/2 in. (181.61 cm)
medium: sandstone
style: Dvaravati
culture: Thai
by bequest to Walters Art Museum, 1992.
[1] "from Phra Pathom. Dug up at Nak[h] Pathom"
[2] Presented to the Breezewood Foundation, December 1959, inv. no. 115
Naturalistic scarabs, which exhibit a beetle-formed underside instead of a flat bottom with additional motifs, became popular in the late Third Intermediate and Late periods. They were attached to the mummy bandages and were part of the amulet set. There are two varieties of such scarabs: red carnelian and blue-green faience scarabs. It is likely that the blue-green scarabs focus only on the renewal aspect, while the red carnelian scarabs were related to the sun rise/set aspect and gave special protection at the critical transition phase.
Egyptian
H: 7/16 x W: 3/4 x L: 1 1/8 in. (1.1 x 1.9 x 2.8 cm)
medium: Egyptian faience with blue-green glaze
style: Saitic
culture: Egyptian
dynasty: 26th Dynasty
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
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This seal, depicting a human-headed griffin attacking a horse, has the detailed modeling of musculature characteristic of Middle Assyrian period art. The use of an empty background highlights the drama of the contest and marks a turning point in Assyrian art later expressed on a large scale in carved palace reliefs. The cuneiform inscription records the owner's name: "seal of Silliya."
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.
Assyrian
H: 1 9/16 x Diam: 9/16 in. (3.9 x 1.5 cm)
medium: violet and white stone
culture: Assyrian
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.