Worn as a clasp to close a priestly garment, this morse must have been created for an official of the Franciscan order. Despite their vows of poverty, Franciscans often possessed lavish liturgical vestments. Displaying the moment that Francis received the stigmata (marks on the body corresponding to Jesus’ crucifixion wounds), the nocturnal setting distinguishes this scene and heightens its drama.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Morse with Saint Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata
Date:ca. 1300–1350
Geography:Made in Tuscany, Italy
Culture:Italian
Medium:Gilded copper with translucent and champlevé enamel
Dimensions:Overall: 4 1/4 x 4 5/16 x 3/8 in. (10.8 x 10.9 x 0.9 cm)
Classification:Enamels-Basse taille
Credit Line:Gift of Georges and Edna Seligmann, in memory of his father, the art collector Simon Seligmann, and his brother, René, 1979
Accession Number:1979.498.2
Victor Gay, Paris; Simon Seligmann, Paris; by descent, Georges and Edna Seligmann, New York (until 1979)
New York. The Cloisters, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Medieval Art from Private Collections," October 30, 1968–March 30, 1969.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Mirror of the Medieval World," March 9–June 1, 1999.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Choirs of Angels: Painting in Italian Choir Books, 1300-1500," November 25, 2008–April 12, 2009.
The Frist Center for the Visual Arts. "Sanctity Pictured: The Art of the Dominican and Franciscan Orders in Renaissance Italy," October 31, 2014–January 25, 2015.
Gómez-Moreno, Carmen. Medieval Art from Private Collections: A Special Exhibition at The Cloisters, October 30, 1968 through January 5, 1969. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1968. no. 167.
Wixom, William D. "Curatorial Reports and Departmental Accessions." Annual Report of the Trustees of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 110 (July 1, 1979–June 30, 1980). p. 42.
Kleinbauer, Walter Eugene. "Recent Major Acquisitions of Medieval Art by American Museums." Gesta 19, no. 1 (1980). p. 74, fig. 24.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Notable Acquisitions, 1979-1980 (Metropolitan Museum of Art) (1980). pp. 23–24.
Howard, Kathleen, ed. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1983. no. 38, p. 353.
Shepard, Mary B. Europe in the Middle Ages, edited by Charles T. Little, and Timothy B. Husband. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1987. pp. 124–25, pl. 114.
Howard, Kathleen, ed. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. 2nd ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1994. no. 39, p. 387.
Wixom, William D., ed. Mirror of the Medieval World. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1999. no. 171, pp. 142–43.
Kennedy, Trinita, ed. Sanctity Pictured: The Art of the Dominican and Franciscan Orders in Renaissance Italy. Nashville: Frist Center for the Visual Arts, 2014. no. 19, pp. 132–133.
Kennedy, Trinita. "Sanctity Pictured: The Art of the Dominican and Franciscan Orders in Renaissance Italy." In Sanctity Pictured: The Art of the Dominican and Franciscan Orders in Renaissance Italy, edited by Trinita Kennedy. Nashville: Frist Center for the Visual Arts, 2014. no. 19, p. 4.
Neff, Amy. "Painting, Devotion, and the Franciscans." In Sanctity Pictured: The Art of the Dominican and Franciscan Orders in Renaissance Italy, edited by Trinita Kennedy. Nashville: Frist Center for the Visual Arts, 2014. no. 19, pp. 37, 43.
Robson, Janet. "The Changing Imagery of Saint Francis in the Basilica of San Francesco in Assisi." In Sanctity Pictured: The Art of the Dominican and Franciscan Orders in Renaissance Italy, edited by Trinita Kennedy. Nashville: Frist Center for the Visual Arts, 2014. no. 19, p. 25.
Tammen, Silke. "Radiance and Image on the Breast: Seeing Medieval Jewellery." In Medieval Art at the Intersection of Visuality and Material Culture: Studies in the 'Semantics of Vision', edited by Raphaèle Preisinger. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 2021. pp. 164–68, fig. 6.2.
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