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At the right of the tsuba is a humble hut. In the hut, a man holds a book near the window. This is the legendary Chinese scholar Shoko. He read by moonlight. The moon and clouds are in the upper left of the tsuba. On the reverse is a waterfall under a pine tree.
Japanese
2 1/2 in. (6.3 cm)
medium: shibuichi, gold
culture: Japanese
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Each of the four gospels in this book opens on a page with brilliantly illuminated borders depicting the author of the text as well as birds-principally peacocks, symbols of the immortality of the soul-and fountains, representing the fountain of life and the salvation of the soul. This volume consists of 428 leaves with texts in Greek. Its level of sophistication suggests that it was probably written and decorated in a monastery in Constantinople.
Byzantium, Constantinople
ink, tempera, and gold on vellum; leather binding
Sheet: 28 x 23 cm (11 x 9 1/16 in.)
Did you know...
Gospel Books were carried in procession through Byzantine churches.
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Munich-trained Gottwald taught for more than four decades at the Cleveland School (now Institute) of Art, and was the most influential figure in the city’s burgeoning artistic development. During the years leading up to World War I, he spent summers in Italy, where he created this work, the first painting by a living artist acquired by the museum.
America, Ohio, Cleveland
oil on canvas
Unframed: 72.8 x 60.4 cm (28 11/16 x 23 3/4 in.)
Gift of Mrs. John Huntington
The Virgin's mantle falls in the elegant, linear folds of Indian sculpture. The native style and facial features are smoothly adapted to the Christian apocalyptic iconography of the Virgin, who is represented standing on a crescent moon. With little reference to the body beneath the robes, her physical energy is directed into the peace and serenity of prayer. Native and European vocabularies are in dialogue. Christianity came with the Portuguese in 1505. Known to Europeans in the 17th century as Ceylon, the island became officially known as Sri Lanka in 1972.
H: 10 1/8 in. (25.7 cm)
medium: ivory, carved, gilded and painted
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
H: 7 11/16 x W: 12 11/16 in. (19.5 x 32.2 cm)
medium: watercolor over graphite underdrawing on moderately textured, moderately thick, cream wove paper
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
[1] sold for $425 (annotated auction catalog, WAM library)
Figures appear on two sides of this fragmentary stela (upright stone slab carved in relief). One seems to represent a grimacing warrior who brandishes a club; arrow-like darts festoon his belt and hair. On the other side is a skeleton with one fleshed hand, perhaps a sacrificed captive. The eagle with a leaf in its mouth is a hieroglyph that may identify the captive's name.
Mexico, Veracruz?, 600-950 AD
limestone
Overall: 31.8 x 30.8 x 12.2 cm (12 1/2 x 12 1/8 x 4 13/16 in.)
Did you know...
The pointed teeth of the warrior are suggestive of dental modification, a practice known to have occurred from human remains.
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James C. Gruener