Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Mirror Cover with the Fountain of Youth
(Medieval Europe )
Originally this ivory plaque was the back for a disk-shaped mirror of polished metal. It is carved with a scene of the Fountain of Youth. Elderly men and women walk or travel by cart from the left to the mythical Fountain of Youth at the right. They bathe and reemerge as young couples who enter into the castle at the center and court above upon the battlements. The frame, a circle within a square, has four crouched dragon-like creatures in each corner.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
Count Gregorii Stroganoff, Rome [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Léon Gruel, Paris [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore [date of acquisition unknown], by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Exhibitions
| 2016-2017 | A Feast for the Senses: Art and Experience in Medieval Europe. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota. |
| 1999-2000 | Vive la France! French Treasures from the Middle Ages to Monet. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
| 1997 | Images in Ivory: Precious Objects of the Gothic Age. The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit; The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
Conservation
| Date | Description | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| Examination | Examined | |
| Examination | Examined in preparation for exhibition. | |
| Treatment | Examined, reinforced. | |
| Treatment | Examined and cracks reinforced in preparation for exhibition. | |
| 1/11/1962 | Treatment | cleaned |
Geographies
France, Paris (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 5 1/8 x W: 4 7/8 x D: 3/8 in. (13 x 12.4 x 1 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters
Location in Museum
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
71.170