URL photos on Flickr

This tsuba is decorated with an interlocking design that includes swastikas. The swastikas are oriented both clockwise and counterclockwise. The swastika is a symbol of luck and prosperity used throughout Asia.

Japanese

2 13/16 in. (7.1 cm)

medium: copper, silver rim

culture: Japanese

Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

art.thewalters.org/detail/419

url by Franchesco José

DSCN2312 by Alice Liu

這一鍋是鴨湯，薑味十足，喝了發汗

Head of a Boy, Possibly Lucius, Son of Agrippa (?) late 1st century BC (?) by museado

This head of a boy has hair that is broken and worn, and covered with dirt. The face is clean, possibly recut. The piece is broken at the neck. It is probably a forgery.

H: 12 1/4 in. (31.1 cm)

medium: black basalt

Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

art.thewalters.org/detail/1284

Throwing Knife / Prestige Scepter (pingha) 1800–mid-1900s by museado

Africa, Central or Eastern Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic, and Sudan, Zande-style maker

Iron alloy and plant fiber

Overall: 45.5 cm (17 15/16 in.)

Gift of Donna L. and Robert H. Jackson

clevelandart.org/art/2015.156

url-59 by Leila Fakouri

url-64 by Leila Fakouri

url by a9339339

url by Tom Rey

url by Gabriel Maldonado

url by GOWRI SHANKAR

url by Rocio R Castro

url by EMJ1138

url by art.hustler

Hours of Charles the Noble, King of Navarre (1361-1425): fol. 209v, Text c. 1405 by museado

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

clevelandart.org/art/1964.40.209.b

Text, folio 55 (recto), from a Gospel Book with Commentaries c. 1000–1100 by museado

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

clevelandart.org/art/1942.152.55.a

Art-URL_49 by pastoraluniversitaria