Plaque with Christ before Pilate

This work may be from a set of engraved rock crystal plaques depicting the life of Christ that, according to the writer Giorgio Vasari, Giovanni Bernardi completed in 1547 for Cardinal Alessandro Farnese (1520-89). They were probably intended to be set into a casket by another craftsman.

Bernardi was one of the most famous rock crystal engravers of the Renaissance. This plaque-with its closely packed, relief-like arrangement, oval shape, and tightly drawn figures-points to his familiarity with Roman intaglio carving on gems. The artist signed the plaque with his first name (in Latin) and F, short for "fecit" ("made this"). The delicate frame in gold and detailing in painted enamel may be from around 1600; framing the piece turns it into an independent object.

Inscription

Provenance

Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.

Cook [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Cook Sale, July 1925, no. 469; Sadie Jones (Mrs. Henry Walters), New York [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Mrs. Henry Walters Sale, New York, December 4, 1943, no. 996; Walters Art Museum, 1943, by purchase.