View allAll Photos Tagged URLs
[ File # csp8672562, License # 1868328 ]
Licensed through www.canstockphoto.com in accordance with the End User License Agreement (www.canstockphoto.com/legal.php)
(c) Can Stock Photo Inc. / zurijeta
The p'ing-t'o technique of inlaying gold and silver foil on lacquer produced luxurious articles of elegance and fragility. These stray silver inlays were originally mounted on a mirror back or a cosmetic box whose lacquered surface has disintegrated. They combine auspicious symbols of Indian and Chinese origin--human-headed birds whose melodies filled the Buddhist paradise, and bird-riding deities who inhabited the skies of Taoist mythology. Like these imaginary beings, the lions were probably paired in a radial design; at least one has been lost.
China, Tang dynasty (618-907) - Song dynasty (960-1279)
beaten silver with chased details
Overall: 4.7 x 8.4 cm (1 7/8 x 3 5/16 in.)
Gift of Eugene Victor Thaw
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 heavy gold signet ring bears the throne name of the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten (1351-1334 BCE). It was cast in one piece; the deeper parts of the hieroglyphics were cut into the model before casting and the finer details chased onto it afterwards. The hieroglyphs on the bezel of the ring are not consistent with the style of the Amarna Period (particularly the shape of the kheper-beetle, as well as the nefer-sign next to it). The ring was bought in Cairo in 1929 and it is possible that it was produced in Egypt in the time of the excavations at Amarna (capital of Akhentaten in Middle Egypt) in the early 20th century or shortly after.
Egyptian
Overall H: 5/8 in. (1.58 cm)
Bezel L: 1/16 x W: 9/16 in. (0.2 x 1.4 cm)
Inner Diam: 5/8 in. (1.6 cm)
Outer Diam: 1 1/8 in. (2.79 cm)
medium: cast gold
culture: Egyptian
dynasty: 18th Dynasty (?)
reign: Akhenaten (1351-1334 BC) (?)
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Ziem, the most peripatetic of 19th-century artists, is remembered for his prolific Venetian views produced during a long career spanning almost seven decades. He was born in Beaune, Burgundy, his unusual Polish surname being that adopted by his paternal grandfather, an Armenian. Ziem's family settled in Dijon in 1831 and six years later the future artist entered the town's Ecole des Beaux-Arts, where he distinguished himself in architectural and landscape drawing. In 1842, Ziem embarked on his first extensive tour, traveling to Italy, where he visited Venice before continuing to Austria and Germany. His travels continued at an unabated pace for the remainder of his career. Stopping points included Moscow, Kiev, St. Petersburg, Holland, Turkey, Egypt, and Algeria. He preceded the Impressionists with his work in situ, contriving a floating studio in Venice and employing a caravan in the Fontainebleau Forest.
This painting, characteristic of many of Ziem's Venetian views looks toward the Grand Canal from the Canale di San Marco. In the foreground are two boats, one small rowboat and a larger sailboat, while the city is visible in the background. The scene is suffused with a warm, golden sunlight.
H: 10 5/8 x W: 15 1/2 in. (27 x 39.4 cm)
medium: oil on panel
Walters Art Museum, 1972, by bequest.
Demetrius, a favorite "warrior saint" of both the eastern and western worlds and a fourth-century martyr under the emperor Maximian, is shown here killing the gladiator Lyaeos, who reportedly killed many Christians. According to tradition Demetrius himself, not actually a soldier but the son of a senatorial family, did not actually kill Lyaeos, but gave his blessing to a youth named Nestor who did. An angel descends at the top center with the crown of martyrdom, and at the right are the walls of the city of Salonica, or Thessaloniki, Demetrius' birthplace.
Demetrius is credited with numerous posthumous miracles, and at the left of this composition is an image of a miraculous event associated with his icon.
On the borders of the icon are the saints Mary Magdalene, Daria, Natalia, and Matrona, possibly the namesakes of the icon's original owners.
Russian
12 5/8 x 10 7/8 in. (32.1 x 27.6 cm)
medium: tempera on wood
culture: Russian
dynasty: House of Romanov
Walters Art Museum, January 1961, by bequest.
Germany, Berlin, late 18th century
porcelain
Overall: 22.4 x 15 x 12 cm (8 13/16 x 5 7/8 x 4 3/4 in.)
Dudley P. Allen Fund
This painting may be Renoir's earliest signed canvas. Its sensitive display of color and light communicates an ideal of delicate, youthful beauty. The luminous tones of the background drapery and of the child's white blouse result from the artist's careful observation of reflected light and color on translucent materials. The delicate nuances of color, particularly in the young girl's face, reveal Renoir's previous training as a decorator of porcelain. He painted this portrait, commissioned by the vacationing Lacaux family, during his stay at an artist's colony in the village of Barbizon, near Paris.
France, 19th century
oil on fabric
Framed: 106.7 x 89.2 x 8.9 cm (42 x 35 1/8 x 3 1/2 in.); Unframed: 81.3 x 65 cm (32 x 25 9/16 in.)
Did you know...
The son of a poor tailor from Limoges, Renoir began his artistic career at age 13 as an apprentice to a porcelain painter.
Gift of the Hanna Fund