Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Oil Lamp in the Shape of an African's Head
(Renaissance Europe )
Oil lamps in the shape of a head of an animal or person were created in Italy during the Renaissance in imitation of similar ones made by the ancient Romans. 17th-century collectors could not tell the difference and collected the Renaissance examples as “antiquities.” This oil lamp would have been appreciated not only for its “antiquity” but also for its exoticism. Another such lamp in a princely collection of the time was called a “heathen head” and considered to be Roman; it was not recognized as a work of the early 1500s until 1940.
The representation is undignified—the wick would have stuck out of the man’s mouth—but the dignity of persons considered to be “savage” or “heathen” was not of much concern to most in Europe at the time.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
Henry Walters, Baltimore, before 1931; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Exhibitions
| 2012-2013 | Revealing the African Presence in Renaissance Europe. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton. |
Conservation
| Date | Description | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| 9/12/2012 | Treatment | Leaned;coated |
Geographies
Italy (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 1 9/16 x W: 3 1/16 x D: 1 9/16 in. (4 x 7.8 x 4 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters
Location in Museum
Not on view
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.
54.1716