ticketsMember | Make a donation

Prayer Bead in the Form of a Skull with the Entry into Jerusalem and the Carrying of the Cross

1515
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
The interior of this fruitwood carving resembles those of miniature boxwood prayer beads, but the exterior has been transformed into a skull, presenting death with all the intensity of boxwood miniature coffins. Bearing the date 1515 and the arms of Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg, it was perhaps carved in German lands by an artist eager to have a share of the flourishing boxwood market established in the Netherlands.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Prayer Bead in the Form of a Skull with the Entry into Jerusalem and the Carrying of the Cross
  • Date: 1515
  • Culture: German (?)
  • Medium: Fruitwood
  • Dimensions: Open: 4 3/8 × 1 7/16 × 7/8 in. (11.1 × 3.7 × 2.3 cm)
    Closed: 2 5/16 × 1 7/16 × 1 3/4 in. (5.8 × 3.7 × 4.5 cm)
  • Classification: Sculpture-Miniature-Wood
  • Credit Line: The Thomson Collection at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto (AGOID.29283)
  • Curatorial Department: Medieval Art and The Cloisters