Paternoster Bead from a Rosary or Chaplet with Christ, a Young Woman, and Death

Description This pendant combines the heads of Christ, a young woman, and skull from which worms crawl, symbolizing Death. The carver's attention to lifelike detail extends to the minute row of teeth revealed by Christ's parted lips. the ivory is worn from the frequent stroking as the bead ran through the fingers of the Catholic user saying a prayer to Our Father (Paternoster).

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
1/11/1962	Treatment	cleaned
11/19/1987	Treatment	examined for condition; cleaned

Exhibitions

• World of Wonder. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1971-1972.
• A Renaissance Gem Revealed: Petrarch's Triumphs Disbound. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. 2002.
• The Ivory Mirror: Death and Selfhood in Renaissance Art. Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick. 2017.

Provenance Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters