This medallion reveals how close metalwork and painting were at the beginning of the fifteenth century: such images, often referred to in inventories as tableaux d'or, use the same pictorial conventions as panel paintings to engage the viewer. An object for private devotion, it encouraged the owner to reflect on and emulate the suffering of the holy figures. Mary and John, shown half-length, hold the dead Christ upright against the edge of the sarcophagus, a scene not mentioned in the Gospels. An angel hovers above Christ's head, with the crown of thorns in his hands. Two other angels hold a curtain behind and in front of the three main figures, both concealing and unveiling them, as in a vision.
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Artwork Details
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Title:The Dead Christ with the Virgin, Saint John, and Angels
Date:ca. 1390–1405
Geography:Made in Paris, France
Culture:French
Medium:Opaque and translucent enamel on gold
Dimensions:Overall: 2 7/16 x 2 5/16 x 3/8 in. (6.2 x 5.8 x 1 cm) center medallion: 1 15/16 in. (5 cm)
Classification:Enamels-Ronde Bosse
Credit Line:Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
Object Number:17.190.913
Oscar Hainauer, Berlin (until d. 1894); by descent to his widow, Julie Hainauer, Berlin (1894–sold 1906, to Duveen); [ Duveen Brothers, London, Paris and New York (sold July 1906, to Morgan)]; J. Pierpont Morgan (American), London and New York (1906–until d. 1913); Estate of J. Pierpont Morgan, New York (1913–17)
New York. American Museum of Natural History. "The Nature of Diamonds," November 1, 1997–August 31, 1998.
Paris. Musée du Louvre. "L'art parisien sous Charles VI," March 22, 2004–July 12, 2004.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Art of Illumination," March 1–June 13, 2010.
Rijksmuseum. "Johan Maelwael," October 6, 2017–January 7, 2018.
Bode, Wilhelm von. Die Sammlung Oscar Hainauer. Berlin, 1897. no. 407, p. 126.
Bode, Wilhelm von, ed. Ausstellung von Kunstwerken des Mittelalters und der Renaissance aus Berliner Privatbesitz veranstaltet von der Kunstgeschichtlichen Gesellschaft. Berlin: G. Grote, 1899. pl. XLVI, no. 10.
Bode, Wilhelm von. The Collection of Oscar Hainauer. Reprint (with English trans.) ed. London: Chiswick Press, 1906. no. 407, p. 126.
Williamson, George Charles. Catalogue of the Collections of Jewels and Precious Works of Art: The Property of J. Pierpont Morgan. Deluxe ed. London: Chiswick Press, 1910. no. 30, p. 42, pl. XVII.
Wagner de Kertesz, Margarita. Historia Universal de las Joyas. Buenos Aires: Ediciones Centurion, 1947. p. 406.
Müller, Theodor, and Erich Steingräber. "Die französische Goldemailplastik um 1400." Münchner Jahrbuch der bildenden Kunst, 3rd ser., 5 (1954). no. 13, pp. 49, 73, fig. 31.
Phillips, John Goldsmith. "The Renaissance Galleries." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., 12, no. 6 (February 1954). p. 159.
Gómez-Moreno, Carmen. "Gold." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., 31, no. 2 (1972–1973). p. 78.
Kammel, Frank Matthias, and Andreas Curtius. Spiegel der Seligkeit: Privates Bild und Frömmigkeit im Spätmittelalter. Nuremberg: Germanisches Nationalmuseum, 2000. pp. 54–55.
Taburet-Delahaye, Elisabeth, ed. Paris 1400: Les Arts sous Charles VI. Paris: Musée du Louvre, 2004. no. 149, p. 248.
Fricke, Beate. "Matter and Meaning of Mother-of-Pearl: The Origins of Allegory in the Spheres of Things." Gesta 51, no. 1 (2012). pp. 41–42, fig. 5.
Falkenburg, Reindert. "Prayer Nuts Seen Through the 'Eyes of the Heart'." In Small Wonders: Late-Gothic Boxwood Micro-Carvings from the Low Countries, edited by Frits Scholten. Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum, 2016. pp. 132, 137, fig. 76.
Roelofs, Pieter Dr., ed. Johan Maelwael: Nijmegen, Paris, Dijon: art around 1400. Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum, 2017. no. 28, pp. 138–39.
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