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A lapis lazuli amulet representing the goddess Isis seated on a throne decorated with a scale pattern. She holds her left breast and raises the head of infant Horus on her lap. The broad face and squat proportions may indicate an early date. The back is perforated at shoulder level.
Egyptian
H: 1 7/16 x W: 1/2 x D: 11/16 in. (3.58 x 1.25 x 1.79 cm)
medium: lapis lazuli
culture: Egyptian
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
This precious book was highly prized by its owner, Charles III, King of Navarre, a French-born prince whose coat of arms is painted on 20 folios. Charles visited Paris on numerous occasions and likely acquired this volume there in 1404. Paris was the center of the European book trade at the time and attracted illuminators from many parts of Europe. This manuscript represents one of the most remarkable fusions of French and Italian taste in book illumination. Though conforming to Parisian standards, most of the book’s major miniatures are the work of the Brussels Initials Master, an Italian illuminator who previously worked in Bologna and Padua.
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
Egypt, New Kingdom (1540–1069 BCE), Dynasties 19–20
Nile silt ware; lid of limestone
Diameter: 22.7 cm (8 15/16 in.); Overall: 23.2 cm (9 1/8 in.); Diameter of lid: 12.1 cm (4 3/4 in.)
Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust
This satyr is a follower of the wine-god Dionysus shown holding a rhyton, or drinking-horn, in one hand. Together with a similar object (acc. no. 54.1029), these satyr figures decorated the crosspieces of a wooden tripod.
Etruscan
1 5/8 x 3 1/4 x 1 in. (4.2 x 8.3 x 2.5 cm)
mount: 1/2 x 3 11/16 x 1 1/2 in. (1.3 x 9.3 x 3.8 cm)
medium: bronze
culture: Etruscan
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
This is a mass-produced replica of a famous miracle-working icon of the Virgin and Child, brought to Russia from Byzatium in the 12th century, known as the "Virgin of Vladimir", and currently kept in Moscow (State Tretyakov Gallery). The Virgin and Child are each identified by abbreviated inscriptions.
Russian
H: 1 15/16 x W: 1 13/16 in. (5 x 4.6 cm)
medium: champlevé enamel
culture: Russian
dynasty: House of Romanov
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Western India, Gujarat, Kachchh
silk on silk satin with mirror-glass inserts, embroidery
Overall: 117.5 x 111.7 cm (46 1/4 x 44 in.)
Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust
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