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This precious volume was obviously highly prized by its owner, the French-born King of Navarre, who had his coat of arms painted on no less than twenty folios. Rather than directly commissioning this manuscript from a specific workshop, it seems that Charles the Noble acquired his book of hours -- perhaps ready-made for the luxury market -- while on a trip to Paris in 1404-05. A collaborative effort, six painting styles are evidenced within the pages of this codex, those of two Italians, two Frenchmen, and two Netherlanders. The painter who was responsible for the planning and decoration of the book, and who produced seventeen of the large miniatures, was a Bolognese artist known as the Master of the Brussels Initials. His principal assistant, responsible for most of the borders, was a Florentine who signed his name "Zecho" da Firenze on folio 208 verso.
France, Paris
ink, tempera, and gold on vellum
Codex: 20.3 x 15.7 x 7 cm (8 x 6 3/16 x 2 3/4 in.)
Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund
This tsuba depicts a lotus pond with lotus flowers blossoming. The plants are depicted in gold and silver relief. On the back of the tsuba, a water bug skims the water between the lotus. The lotus is associated with Buddha and a state of purity. The construction of this tsuba is unusual. The front is made of a copper and gold alloy called shakudo, while the back is silver. They have been fused together, creating a wavy pattern along the tsuba's edge.
Japanese
at center: 2 11/16 x 2 7/16 x 1/8 in. (6.9 x 6.13 x 0.34 cm)
medium: silver, shakudo, gold, copper
style: Goto School
culture: Japanese
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Iran, possibly Tabriz or Shiraz, Timurid Period, early 15th century
ink and opaque watercolor on paper
Overall: 23.2 x 15.5 cm (9 1/8 x 6 1/8 in.); Text area: 18.2 x 12 cm (7 3/16 x 4 3/4 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
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
America, Massachusetts, 18th century
kidskin
Average: 24.8 x 9.6 cm (9 3/4 x 3 3/4 in.)
Gift of Mrs. David Moore
This scarab has a flat underside without a bottom design. The design of the back is very detailed with fine incised hatch marks and shoulder marks, and irregular line flow. The proportions of the top are well balanced. The workmanship is excellent and the piece is elaborately made.
The scarab functioned as a funerary amulet with a renewal connotation, and could have been an inlay of a pectoral or a heart scarab. The piece was originally mounted or threaded.
Egyptian
H: 1/2 x W: 7/8 x L: 1 1/4 in. (1.3 x 2.3 x 3.1 cm)
medium: dark green jasper
culture: Egyptian
dynasty: 26th-27th Dynasty
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
This rare, dramatic object served as the back support of a litter carried by human porters, a mode of transport reserved for honored members of many societies without draft animals or wheeled vehicles. The simple, bold figures—perhaps a Chimú lord and four officials—all wear wide collars, tunics, and crescent headdresses that are either brightly painted or covered with golden but now-corroded sheet metal. The holes at the bottom probably served as lashing points for a beam that supported the litter's seat.
Central Andes, North Coast, Chimú people, late Intermediate period
mixed media: wood, gold alloy, pigment, shell inlay
Overall: 60.4 x 95 cm (23 3/4 x 37 3/8 in.)
Did you know...
Cinnabar, a toxic mercuric sulfide, was used to color the red background and faces of the figures.
John L. Severance Fund
Barry Allen was granted powers of an energy known as the Speed Force after an accident involving mixtures of chemicals. Operates as The Flash
Turkey, Bursa or Istanbul, 16th century (?)
senna knot: wool and silk
Average: 28.6 x 30.5 cm (11 1/4 x 12 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
In this imaginary, idyllic realm, classical philosophers and scholars gather to teach and learn. The men and women in the foreground examine a book of astrological signs. Behind them, a second group studies an armillary sphere, a celestial globe invented in ancient times that became a symbol of knowledge during the Renaissance. A woodcut version of this scene appeared as an illustration in the fortunetelling book <em>Garden of Thoughts</em>, published in Venice in 1540. In that context, the group of three women in the foreground might be seen as the three fates, and the man with the globe as a personification of astrology.
Italy, 16th century
engraving
Sheet: 24 x 19.8 cm (9 7/16 x 7 13/16 in.)
Gift of The Print Club of Cleveland
The four sections of this stand each terminate in a lion's head and the supporting legs end with a paw. The angular modeling of the lion's head contrasts with the delicate silver inlaid decoration.
Northern Iraq or Syria, Zengid or Ayyubid period
cast brass inlaid with silver
Overall: 14 cm (5 1/2 in.)
Dudley P. Allen Fund