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The Virgin kneels on a crescent moon with her hands in an attitude of prayer. Her head is uncovered, and her hair falls down her back and in tresses over her shoulders. In rendering the folds of the garments, little concession has been made to anatomy.
This piece, like 71.342, was apparently carved in the Portuguese colony of Goa, on the west coast of the Indian subcontinent by a native artist.
Devotional statuettes carved in ivory celebrating the immaculate purity of the Virgin were popular in the 1600s in Europe and this taste spread to the colonies established by Catholic countries in Asia and the Americas. The three most important locations for production of these ivories were the portuguese colonies on the Indian subcontinent (Goa, where the present piece as well as Walters 71.407 were made), the island of Sri Lanka (see Walters 71.341) and the Spanish colony of the Philippines (see for example Walters 71.322).
A square paper label with blue borders on the under surface of the statuette is inscribed in ink: "123."
H: 5 3/16 in. (13.2 cm)
medium: ivory, traces of gilding
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
The painting depicts an old tiger, crouching under a tree by a stream looking plaintively at a wolf, with whom he has just shared his troubles with the mice. The wolf suggested that the cat be called to eliminate the mice. The cat has dutifully arrived and requests that he be given the position of Magistrate of the Court, to which the lion agreed. The cat instilled fear in the mice; they dispersed, and the lion was content. Wisely, however, the cat treated the mice with consideration and did not exterminate them completely, so that he would not eliminate the cause of his usefulness. Although the rocky landscape is heavily shaded in a technique that gives them a soft quality, and the leaves of the tree are each outlined in gold, the lack of any actual shadows from an identifiable light source provides a timeless appearance to the scene.
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: 6 x 10.3 cm (2 3/8 x 4 1/16 in.)
Did you know...
The same word is used in Persian for both “lion” and “tiger.”
Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry
Sulpicia was chosen in the 3rd century BCE from among a hundred women in Rome as the most worthy to dedicate a statue to the goddess Venus Verticordia, protector of women. Before an imaginary view of the city of Rome, Sulpicia holds a model of the temple of the goddess.
The painting is one of eight surviving related panels depicting Roman men and women who exemplified virtuous behavior. The series was probably made to celebrate the marriage in 1493 of Silvio di Bartolomeo Piccolomini (a relative of Pope Pius II) and was intended to provide moral examples for the newly married couple.
The artist's fascination with antiquity is visible not only in the subject matter but also in the classicizing linear gracefulness of the human form and the ornament of the base.
Painted surface H including strips added on all sides: 42 1/2 x W: 18 11/16 in. (108 x 47.5 cm)
Panel H: 42 x W: 18 1/4 x D: 13/16 in. (106.7 x 46.3 x 2.1 cm)
medium: tempera and oil on panel
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
On a beach where a strong breeze moves off the water from left to right, figures of French women, men, and children in chic Parisian dress stroll, sit, chat, or take donkey rides. The activities depicted (promenades, socializing, riding, sandbox playing) are the same as those enjoyed by residents of London or Paris. At the right, the dog suggests that these are vacationers rather than tourists seeking to recreate their urban pastimes at the seashore. Painted outdoors, this composition is typical of Boudin's beach scenes in the 1860s in its low-lying horizon, cloud-filled sky, and figures ranged across the middle ground. By scattering the figures over the surface and not closing off the scene with framing elements, the artist created the impression of a partial view of a much larger scene.
France, 19th century
oil on wood panel
Framed: 54 x 75 x 6.4 cm (21 1/4 x 29 1/2 x 2 1/2 in.); Unframed: 34.7 x 57.7 cm (13 11/16 x 22 11/16 in.)
Gift of Mrs. D. Z. Norton
Medieval medicine offered few cures. Christians focused their hopes for recovery from illness or accident on their prayers to saints to intercede for them with God. Saints Cosmas and Damian, Protasius and Gervasius, were two pairs of twin brothers who were invoked for their healing of the sick. The statues are from the hospital complex at Abbeville, built between 1484 and 1492, where they may have stood in niches at the entrance to the church.
The vigorous modeling and realistic details- as in the variety in their facial expressions- are made more vivid by the use of color and give credibility to the saints' humanity. Their size, relative to the sick at their feet, conveys their superhuman powers, while the clerical garments lend them authority. The stocky proportions are typical of French sculpture of the late 15th century.
Saint Cosmas, gloves in hand, heals a man with a bloated stomach. It is likely that he originally held a vessel in his left hand. Cosmas and Damian were twin brothers who, according to legend, practiced as doctors in Cilicia in Asia Minor. They are said to have refused all payment in order to convert their patients. They were martyred in the 3rd century and are regarded as patrons of doctors and surgeons. See 27. 282, 284, 285.
French
H: 27 9/16 x W: 11 7/16 x D: 8 3/4 in. (70 x 29 x 22.3 cm)
medium: limestone with traces of paint and gilding
style: Gothic
culture: French
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Gleyre claimed that "Lost Illusions" represented a vision that he had experienced on the evening of March 1, 1835, while sitting on the banks of the Nile River near Abydos, Egypt. An aging poet watches pensively as a mysterious boat carries away his youthful dreams and illusions, personified by music-making maidens and a cupid strewing flowers. Although the figures in the painting wear classical Greek dress, their vessel resembles a "dahabieh," an Egyptian river boat.
In 1843, Gleyre succeeded Paul Delaroche as the head of the major private studio in Paris. His pupils included such diverse figures as the Academic artist Jean-Léon Gérôme, the future Impressionists Alfred Sisley and Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), and the American James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834-1904). This painting, begun by Gleyre's pupil Léon Dussart and reworked by Gleyre himself, replicates Gleyre's masterpiece "Le Soir" (now in the Louvre Museum, Paris). William Walters commissioned this painting from the artist through the Parisian art dealers Goupil & Cie. in 1865. It took two years to complete. Conscious of the delay, the firm wrote to Walters:
Mr. Gleyre has finally nearly finished his reproduction of his picture. . . We are happy to be able to tell you that this reproduction is beautifully done. It has taken a long time and has required more trouble from the painter than he thought.
H: 34 1/16 x W: 59 1/4 in. (86.5 x 150.5 cm)
Framed H: 52 1/4 x W: 77 1/2 x D: 7 1/4 in. (132.7 x 196.9 x 18.4 cm)
medium: oil on canvas
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.