Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Portrait of a Benedictine Abbot
(Renaissance Europe )
The rectangular plaque shows the bust-length portrait, three-quarters face to the left, of a tonsured monk with small moustache and full chin-beard. He wears the black habit of the Benedictine order. The background is bright blue with a white line border. The enamel framework is of octagonal shape, the upper part suggesting the mask of a dragon, its wings entwined with drapery; on the lower edge, between the mitre and crozier of an abbot, a coat of arms: argent, a mount of ten peaks, in chief three billets or, one and two. In the spandrels, gilt foliage with flowers in blue, purple and green, over paillettes of foil.
Inscription
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, 1908, by purchase [in New York]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Exhibitions
| 2013 | Living by the Book: Monks, Nuns, and Their Manuscripts. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. |
Conservation
| Date | Description | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| 3/6/2013 | Examination | Examined for exhibition |
| 3/6/2013 | Examination | The plaque has not been on view for many years, if ever, and is being included in Living by the Book: Monks, Nuns, and Their Manuscripts, a focus show scheduled for July 13-September 15, 2013. The plaque has damages around the perimeter edge but the central image is intact and in good condition. |
| 3/8/2013 | Treatment | Cleaned; stabilized; loss compensation |
| 3/8/2013 | Treatment | Recent cleaning and stabilization revealed the maker's initials IL for Jacques Laudin on the front of the plaque to the right of the coat of arms. The decoration of the miter was also altered. Cleaning revealed a white miter with three clusters of imitation gemstones. |
Geographies
France, Limoges (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 8 x W: 6 5/8 in. (20.3 x 16.8 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters, 1908
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.
44.165