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A panther paws a growling civet cat, a southern Asian mammal resembling a cat, but with a weasel-like body and short legs.
5 1/2 x 10 1/4 x 4 1/2 in. (14 x 26 x 11.4 cm)
medium: copper alloy with dark-brown over warm red-brown patina on a green marble plinth
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
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
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This engraving is part of the group marked with the letter “B”, and named <em>Cosmic Principles and the Virtues</em>, which comprises the three Universal principles or <em>Genii </em>(Light, Time, and Space) alongside the four cardinal virtues (Prudence, Temperance, Fortitude and Justice) and the three theological ones (Faith, Hope, and Charity). The three allegorical figures of the <em>Genii </em>open group B and appear to be an artistic invention of the author of the Tarocchi series.<br> <br>Here, <em>Iliaco </em>(Genius or Spirit of the Sun) personifies the Sun which is thought to be the soul of the world. He is shown as a winged full-length male youth in profile, turned to left. Behind him is a distant forest. In his right hand, <em>Iliaco </em>holds up a sun-face.
Italy, Ferrara, 15th century
engraving
Did you know...
This is the second personification of the sun that appears within the set of Tarocchi, after the engraving displaying Apollo (1924.432.20) and before the one showing the sun as a star (1924.432.44).
Dudley P. Allen Fund
Though this portrait has had the title “Portrait of a Man” since 1942 when it entered the museum’s collection, the <br>sitter was identified by previous owners, including Leo Schidlof and Edward Greene, as a member of the famous Baring banking family, of whom G. C. Williamson mentions several members in his biography of George Engleheart.<br>Thomas Baring (1772–1848) was not elevated to the baronetcy until 1810. Thomas was a member of Parliament, <br>partner in the firm Baring Brothers & Co. from 1804, and chairman of the London and Southwestern Railroad from 1832 to 1833. Baring Brothers & Co. brokered the $15 million Louisiana Purchase in 1802, which doubled the size of the United States and financially refueled Napoleon’s war effort. <br>Thomas wears a dark blue coat with brass buttons, white waistcoat with a high white collar, bow, and frill down the front, all of which was standard attire for British gentlemen at the turn of the century. His hair is worn à l’antique (hair cut short and worn in curls, especially around the forehead), a style sported by men after the turn of the century that evokes the coiffures of statesmen of ancient Rome. The back of the frame contains plaited brown hair. There is a small area of pigment loss located at the lower right edge of the sitter’s coat.
England, 19th century
watercolor on ivory in a gilt metal frame with plaited brown hair in glazed reserve on back
Framed: 8.6 x 7 cm (3 3/8 x 2 3/4 in.); Unframed: 8 x 6.3 cm (3 1/8 x 2 1/2 in.)
Did you know...
Engleheart also painted miniatures of Baring's wife and elder sons whose names are listed in the artists fee book; he was charging from 12 to 15 guineas for a miniature painting.
The Edward B. Greene Collection
A range of techniques were used to create textural variation in this lace cloth: <em>buratto</em>, bobbin, and crochet. Figural motifs appear within the inserted buratto bands. Different birds, with crosses visible on their chests, crowned double-headed eagles, and feline figures facing a vessel may allude to the heraldic symbols of a particular family.
Italy, 19th century
Needle lace, burato (twined ground and darned in two directions), bobbin lace insert and edging, and crochet insert; bleached linen (est.)
Overall: 62.4 x 132.3 cm (24 9/16 x 52 1/16 in.)
Did you know...
This cloth was given to the museum by Louise Tifft Brown, a native Clevelander who became an expert in lace while living in Venice for 35 years.
Bequest of Louise Tifft Brown
Guanyin is a bodhisattva, a divine being who has attained enlightenment but chooses to stay in the world to help others. Guanyin (an abbreviation of Guanshiyin: “Perceiver of the World’s Sounds”) responds to the calls of those in peril.
Here, Guanyin sits in an attitude of tranquil ease, an arm resting on one knee while gazing at the moon’s reflection in the water below; the bodhisattva’s rippling garments puddle downward in a seemingly liquid cascade. In China, devotion to Guanyin, who came to be represented as an androgynous or female being, was popularized through sacred texts ("sutras"), miracle tales, and legends by which the deity became associated with natural elements, such as water and the moon, that evoke themes of impermanence and change.
The sculpture is a technical marvel. The entire figure, down to the slender fingers, is hollow and made in a technique similar to papier-mâché. Layers of cloth soaked in lacquer, derived from a tree resin, were wrapped over an internal clay support that was removed after the lacquer had hardened. X-radiography shows that the hollow interior was covered in a pigment containing red mercury, called cinnabar, that may have had both sacred and preservative functions.
Chinese
H: 50 x W: 34 1/4 x D: 22 5/8 in. (127 x 87 x 57.5 cm)
medium: dry lacquer, gold, and paint
culture: Chinese
dynasty: Ming [Ming] Dynasty
given to Walters Art Museum, 2006.
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
Luxurious personal objects were an essential part of a privileged wardrobe during the 1700s and early 1800s, emphasizing their owner’s refinement and wealth. Especially popular were <em>étuis</em>, small ornamented cases containing miniature sewing, writing, or grooming implements that hung at a woman’s waist from an ornate clasp, known as a <em>chatelaine</em>. Despite its glittering surface, this small expensive set disguised a system based on the labor and suffering of enslaved or indentured people, whether in gold and stone mines or the shop where it was made.
England, 18th century
Did you know...
Stored inside this case are grooming and writing instruments such as a clasp knife, scissors, an ivory tablet, a pencil, a threading needle used for lacing corsets, and an ear scoop.
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade