Pair of Candlesticks: The Twelve Caesars

Description The shafts of these candlesticks are decorated with gilt floral scrolls, the bases with oval medallions representing the Twelve Caesars. These profiles of the Roman emperors were taken from one of the many 16th-century books illustrated with classical portraits.

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

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters