Casket with Scenes from the Lives of the Virgin and Saint Margaret

This delicate casket may have been intended for jewelry, cosmetics, or other personal items. The scenes combine four episodes from the life of the Virgin on the lid (Annunciation, Visitation, Nativity, and Adoration of the Magi) with four episodes from the life of Saint Margaret on the side panels. Margaret was a Christian virgin who refused to accept the advances of a Roman official, Olybrius, for which she was tortured and finally beheaded. On the front, she is shown being judged by Olybrius; on the right end panel, she is being whipped; on the left end panel, she is shown in prison overcoming a dragon set loose to devour her; and on the back, she is decapitated.

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, [date of acquisition unknown] by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.