View allAll Photos Tagged URL
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
Egypt, Greco-Roman period (332 BCE–395 CE), Roman empire (30 BCE–395 CE)
gold
Overall: 2.3 cm (7/8 in.)
Gift of the British School of Archaeology in Egypt
Southwest, Pueblo, Acoma, Laguna, Post- Contact Period,19th century
pottery
Overall: 29 x 33.5 cm (11 7/16 x 13 3/16 in.)
Gift of the Smithsonian Institution
Though a small object intended for private devotion in a domestic interior, this painting conveys a great sense of monumentality. The composition is dominated by the Madonna, seated on a marble throne and towering over the saints around her. The Christ Child is seated on her lap and appears to steady himself on the Madonna's cloak. Saint Peter, holding the keys to heaven, and Saint Paul, holding the sword with which he was beheaded, stand in rigid poses before the throne, as if guarding the Madonna and Child like a pair of soldiers. Behind them are Saints Anthony Abbot (at the left) with his customary T-shaped staff, and a middle-aged male saint (at the right) whose identity is impossible to determine since he doesn't carry any distinctive attributes. The artist is unknown but the painting's style—reminiscent of Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449-94) and Filippino Lippi (1457-1504)—suggests it produced in Florence in the first quarter of the 16th century.
Painted surface H: 31 5/8 x W: 18 5/16 in. (80.3 x 46.5 cm)
Panel reverse H excluding frame projections: 37 1/2 x W: 23 7/16 x D: 15/16 in. (95.2 x 59.5 x 2.4 cm)
medium: oil on wood panel
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
This painting illustrates a story about a merchant who owned a donkey but did not have enough money to feed him. He was able to secure a tiger’s skin, in which he dressed his donkey at night, so he could forage freely in fields, frightening away the owners’ watchmen, seen here scrambling up in trees for safety. He succeeded for a time and grew fat and healthy, until a nearby donkey brayed, and he instinctively answered, revealing his true identity.
Mughal India, court of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605)
gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
Overall: 20.3 x 14 cm (8 x 5 1/2 in.); Painting only: 13.8 x 10 cm (5 7/16 x 3 15/16 in.)
Did you know...
The complex brushwork, soft grass, and furry tiger’s skin are characteristics of the artist Basavana’s distinctive style.
Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry
Originally part of a large equestrian monument, this head allows us to imagine what was a common sight for the ancient viewer: imposing public statuary that embodied the civic values of imperial Rome. Military officials were often depicted on horseback, and the rider that was represented on the monument was likely a member of the imperial family. Such statues contained large amounts of bronze, and most were melted down for reuse in weapons and other implements in later times of crisis.
Roman
H: 24 x W: 17 15/16 x D: 7 in. (61 x 45.6 x 17.8 cm)
medium: gilt bronze
culture: Roman
dynasty: Julio-Claudian
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
The situla was a deluxe ritual vessel that played an important role in Egyptian religious ceremonies. The two scenes on this situla exemplify the dual roles of a pious Egyptian in the afterlife: receiving offerings from his family on the one hand and making offerings to the gods on the other. On one side of the vessel the deceased, Padiamennebnesuttawy ("He who Amen, lord of Karnak, gives"), sits in a low chair accompanied by his pet dog. The vertical, cross-shaped sign preceding the animal is his name, Nefer, meaning "good one" or "beautiful one." On the right, the deceased's eldest son, Amenhotep, makes offerings of incense and water to his father. On the other side the deceased demonstrates his piety by making an offering of round loaves of bread, vegetables, and meat to the gods. Opposite him are the gods who are the recipients of his offerings—Osiris, god of the dead; Horus, son of Isis; and Isis herself—each of whom wears elaborate beaded and feathered garments.
Egypt, Greco-Roman period (332 BCE–395 CE), Ptolemaic dynasty (305–30 BCE)
bronze
Diameter: 15.5 cm (6 1/8 in.); Diameter of mouth: 10.2 cm (4 in.); Overall: 28.3 cm (11 1/8 in.); with handle: 45.2 cm (17 13/16 in.)
The Charles W. Harkness Endowment Fund
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 woman depicted here in bust-length profile wears the costume of the early 15th century. This is surely not a portrait of a particular woman, but of a type, a "pretty young woman." The painting is from a large series of similar bust-length profile "portraits" that would originally have hung in a row decorating the upper walls and possibly the ceiling of a private home. The present figure is framed by cusped Gothic architecture. The early provenance and style of the group suggest that they were executed by an artist in Lombardy in northern Italy but a specific attribution remains to be clarified. For another panel from this series, please see Walters 37.1110. Other panels from this series belong to the Museo Poldi Pezzoli and the Museo del Castello Sforzesco, both in Milan.
Painted surface H: 14 3/16 x W: 14 1/2 x D excluding cradle: 1/4 in. (36 x 36.8 x 0.6 cm)
medium: paint on wood (spruce) panel
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Wang Hui studied paintings by earlier masters and digested their styles with unceasing virtuosity. He had such enduring affection for a landscape by Wang Meng 王蒙 (about 1308–85) that between 1686 and 1712, he made several copies, like this example. One of his compositional transformations here was moving the scholar from the pavilion directly into the landscape by the stream. <br><br>His faithful copying also included inscriptions. Wang Meng had written that he was trying to resuscitate the style of an earlier artist, Wen Tong (1018–1079); therefore, Wang Hui sought to revive both Wang Meng and Wen Tong.
China, Qing dynasty (1644-1911)
Hanging scroll; ink on paper
Painting: 79.6 x 39.4 cm (31 5/16 x 15 1/2 in.); Overall with knobs: 215.8 x 61.6 cm (84 15/16 x 24 1/4 in.)
Did you know...
As a leading figure in the Orthodox School of Chinese painting, Wang Hui believed that the act of painting was a dialogue with one or more masters of the past.
John L. Severance Fund
[url=http://store.gingerscraps.net/My-life-in-photobook-21..html] My Life in Photobook 21 from Tinci Designs [/url]
PrelestnayaP - While walking on the beach kit
Extracts from Alfred Jacob Miller’s original text, which accompanied his images of Native Americans, are included below for reference.
"Among the wild animals of the West, none gave us so much pleasure, or caused such excitement, as the bands of wild horses that at intervals came under our view. The beauty and symmetry of their forms, their wild and spirited action,- long full sweeping manes and tails - variety of color, and fleetness of motion,- all combined to call forth admiration from the most stoical. One of the greatest difficulties we experienced was to get near enough. They fought shy and held us at a long range,- shewing that they were prudent and sensible, in addition to other fine qualities;- often we had to resort to a telescope. The wheel like trained columns of cavalry, charge, scatter, and form again;- again they are seen in battalions scampering across the prairie, stopping for a moment,- snuffing the breeze,- taking a final look at the intruders from the last undulation, and are gone. The sketch will convey to the observer some idea of this glorious scene,- but it is almost impossible to catch such magic convolutions and secure the spirit of such evanescent forms under the excitement and difficulties that may be readily imagined to transpire at the moment." A.J. Miller, extracted from "The West of Alfred Jacob Miller" (1837).
In July 1858 William T. Walters commissioned 200 watercolors at twelve dollars apiece from Baltimore born artist Alfred Jacob Miller. These paintings were each accompanied by a descriptive text, and were delivered in installments over the next twenty-one months and ultimately were bound in three albums. Transcriptions of field-sketches drawn during the 1837 expedition that Miller had undertaken to the annual fur-trader's rendezvous in the Green River Valley (in what is now western Wyoming), these watercolors are a unique record of the closing years of the western fur trade.
H: 8 1/4 x W: 12 15/16 in. (21 x 32.9 cm)
medium: watercolor on paper
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
The Paracas people buried their dead in bundles that they created by carefully wrapping the seated human body in layers of garments and other textiles. In some cases, they placed a painted <br>cloth—such as these examples—on the outer layer and at the top of the bundle. The hair-like <br>yarns (unwoven warps) were arranged around a solid cotton disk that was sometimes wrapped <br>with a headband. The cloths, then, seem to have functioned as the bundle’s head, even though <br>some are painted not with faces but with complete figures whose supernatural character is marked by the appendages streaming from their bodies.
Peru, South Coast, Ica Valley, Ocucaje site, Paracas style (700 BCE–1 CE)
Cotton and pigment; plain weave
Overall: 61 x 24.1 cm (24 x 9 1/2 in.)
Did you know...
These masks fall into two categories, those with only a face and those with a full-bodied figure.
The Norweb Collection
This drawing records a grand procession through Venice's Piazza San Marco on the penultimate day of the 1782 celebrations for the visit of the Russian Grand Duke Paul (Pavel) Petrovitch and his wife Maria Feodorovna. Francesco Guardi was likely commissioned by the Venetian state to document the ducal visit. Drawing from the vantage point of the Procuratie Nuove (a palace on one side of the piazza), Guardi sketched five carriages festooned with allegories, which were meant to celebrate the governments of Catherine the Great and Venice. In order to include as much of the procession as possible, he manipulated the perspective of the buildings on the right side of the square.The loose handling and lively immediacy of the pen work suggests he executed it on the spot. One drawing (Museen Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin) and two oil paintings (private collections, Venice and Milan) of the same scene survive. Cleveland’s sheet likely preceded these more detailed and polished compositions.
Italy, Venice, 18th century
pen and brown ink with brush and brown wash
Sheet: 25.9 x 36.8 cm (10 3/16 x 14 1/2 in.)
Did you know...
Before entering the museum's collection, this sheet may have been cut on the left, possibly to eliminate a sixth carriage that does not appear in Guardi’s other representations of the procession.
John L. Severance Fund
The silver-pierced frame-like rim of this miniature, set with brilliants, likely post-dates the portrait, which is a copy of a miniature portrait depicting Mrs. Elizabeth Brinsley Sheridan, née Linley, ( 1754-1792) by the famed miniaturist Richard Cosway. Before marrying Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816), Elizabeth was a well-known singer, celebrated for her extraordinary beauty and singing “of indescribable sweetness.” Several English portraitists, including Thomas Gainsborough, Joshua Reynolds, and Richard Samuel, captured her beauty in paint and made her image identifiable across England. In 1772, Elizabeth fled to France, escaping the unwanted sexual attention of several older men and eloped with Sheridan, who eventually fought two duels to defend his and Elizabeth’s honor. When Elizabeth married, she retired from public singing and began a new career, writing and managing her husband’s theater company, Theater Royal of Drury Lane. The back of the miniature contains a piece of hair and a monogram in seed pearl, "H.S." or possibly "H.C.S.." The Holburne Museum in Bath, England has a similar miniature in their collection (see Catalogue of Miniatures in the Holburne Museum and Crafts Study Centre, Bath, p. 21).
H: 1 3/4 in. (4.5 cm)
medium: watercolor on ivory
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.