Prayer Bead with the Adoration of the Magi and the Crucifixion

early 16th century
On view at The Met Cloisters in Gallery 14
Carved with astonishingly minute detail, this rosary bead probably was created with the help of a magnifying lens. When opened, it forms a triptych. On the left is the Journey to Bethlehem and the Nativity; in the center is the Journey of the Magi, complete with horses and camels, followed by their Adoration of the baby Jesus and offering of gifts; and on the right is the Presentation of the Child in the Temple at Jerusalem. The Latin inscription is the text of Psalm 71:10, which refers to kings of Arabia and Saba and is associated by Christians with the Magi.

Adam and Eve appear on the outside of the wings. The Crucifixion of Jesus occupies the lower half of the bead.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Prayer Bead with the Adoration of the Magi and the Crucifixion
  • Date: early 16th century
  • Culture: Netherlandish
  • Medium: Boxwood
  • Dimensions: Open: 4 7/16 × 3 3/16 × 1 1/16 in. (11.2 × 8.1 × 2.7 cm)
    Closed: 2 5/16 × 2 3/16 × 2 3/16 in. (5.8 × 5.5 × 5.6 cm)
  • Classification: Sculpture-Miniature-Wood
  • Credit Line: Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
  • Object Number: 17.190.475
  • Curatorial Department: Medieval Art and The Cloisters

Audio

Cover Image for 58. Rosary Bead

58. Rosary Bead

Gallery 19

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NARRATOR: This rosary bead was carved out of boxwood in the early sixteenth century in the Netherlands. The rosary is a string of beads used for counting a sequence of prayers, alternating one Paternoster ("Our Father," the Lord's Prayer) with ten Ave Marias ("Hail Marys"). The rosary has been used from the end of the fifteenth century to the present. This particular bead is a Paternoster bead. When reciting the Paternoster prayer, the worshipper would finger the outside of this closed bead, feeling its crevices and patterns as he or she prayed. Then she would open the bead, read the surrounding inscription, and contemplate the scenes carved inside. It is likely that the remarkably intricate details you see here were achieved with the help of a magnifying lens. By the late Middle Ages, the cult of the Virgin reached new heights, and the veneration of the rosary became widely popular. The tactile quality of the beads accentuated the worshippers' immediate religious experience and provided a focus for their prayers.

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