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Charity
(Medieval Europe )
The bust-length personification of Charity appears as a golden figure against a blue enamel background with green and white enamel borders. The engraved outlines of the face, hands and drapery are highlighted with red enamel as is the lettering. This technique and combination of colors is characteristic of enamels made in the vicinity of Cologne, Germany, in the second half of the twelfth century. Charity and its mate, Justice (Walters 44.99), plausibly were part of a series illustrating virtues adorning a book cover, reliquary shrine or portable altar.
Inscription
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
A. Tollin, Paris, by purchase; Sale, Hotel Drouot, Paris, May 20, 1897, no. ???; Jacques Seligmann, Paris, by purchase; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1922, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Exhibitions
| 1940 | Arts of the Middle Ages. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston. |
Geographies
Germany, Rheinland (Place of Origin)
Measurements
1 9/16 x 1 x 1/8 in. (4 x 2.6 x 0.3 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters, 1922
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.
44.100