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Bona Sforza (1493–1557), Queen of Poland

Cameo by Giovanni Jacopo Caraglio Italian
cameo ca. 1530–40, frame 19th century
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 536
Exceptionally for the Renaissance, this is a signed cameo, bearing the signature of Gian Giacomo Caraglio, who was born in Verona and later worked in Venice and then Cracow and who was best known as a printmaker. Bona Sforza, daughter of the duke of Milan, married Sigismund I, king of Poland, in 1518. At Sigismund’s death in 1548 she returned to Italy, where she died in 1557. The cameo is inlaid with gold that enhances details of Bona’s chain and hairnet, and a silver Medusa’s head (see detail; for Medusa, see also fig. 59) is inset on her breast, in the same spirit of jewelry within jewelry. The only other gem signed by Caraglio, an agate similarly bedecked with gold representing Barbara Radziwill, Bona’s successor as queen of Poland, is in the Münzkabinett, Munich. The dainty frame, although dated 1554 on the reverse, is a nineteenth-century invention.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Bona Sforza (1493–1557), Queen of Poland
  • Maker: Cameo by Giovanni Jacopo Caraglio (Italian, Parma or Verona ca. 1500/1505–1565 Krakow (?))
  • Date: cameo ca. 1530–40, frame 19th century
  • Culture: Polish, Krakow cameo with French frame
  • Medium: Sardonyx, with inlaid gold and silver details; mounted in 19th century frame as a pendant in gold, with enamel, pearl and ruby
  • Dimensions: Overall: 2 13/16 x 1 3/4 in. (7.2 x 4.4 cm);
    Visible cameo (confirmed): 31 x 22 mm
  • Classifications: Metalwork-Gold and Platinum, Jewelry
  • Credit Line: Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
  • Object Number: 17.190.869
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

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The Martyrdom of St. Peter and St. Paul, Giovanni Jacopo Caraglio Italian, Engraving
The Martyrdom of St. Peter and St. Paul
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Giovanni Jacopo Caraglio
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ca. 1527

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