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This delicate casket may have been intended for jewelry, cosmetics, or other personal items. The scenes combine four episodes from the life of the Virgin on the lid (Annunciation, Visitation, Nativity, and Adoration of the Magi) with four episodes from the life of Saint Margaret on the side panels. Margaret was a Christian virgin who refused to accept the advances of a Roman official, Olybrius, for which she was tortured and finally beheaded. On the front, she is shown being judged by Olybrius; on the right end panel, she is being whipped; on the left end panel, she is shown in prison overcoming a dragon set loose to devour her; and on the back, she is decapitated.
French
H with lock: 1 7/8 x W: 4 5/16 x D: 3 1/16 in. (4.8 x 11 x 7.7 cm)
medium: ivory, silver and enamel mounts
style: Gothic
culture: French
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
This print is part of a bound volume of works illustrating the a narrative of the Apocalypse, taken from the Revelation of Saint John in the Bible. The 23 engravings in the series occupied the artist for a number of years and represent his greatest artistic achievement. The museum's volume is one of only seven known complete sets. Jean Duvet was one of the first major printmakers in France and one of the most original artists of the 1500s. Although he worked mostly in the provincial city of Langres, he became aware of Italian art through the circulation of prints—notably those of Marcantonio Raimondi. His solidly modeled human figures reflect the influence of the Italian High Renaissance. Duvet, however, developed an idiosyncratic, highly artificial style with crowded compositions that ignore rational space in favor of ornamental surface patterns.
France, 16th century
engraving
Gift of the Hanna Fund