Pendant with the Lamb of God and the Crucifixion

On one side of this double-sided pendant, Christ appears on the Cross, his body foreshortened to highlight his torture by the Romans. Christ is flanked by Saint John the Evangelist and the Virgin Mary, who raise their hands in prayer. On the other side of the pendant, Christ appears in the form of the Agnus Dei (Lamb of God), sitting upon an altar and holding the golden banner of victory. Taken together, this pendant would have reminded its devout wearer both of Christ’s suffering during the Passion and his intercessory power through prayer.

The first step of the amalierung technique used to decorate this pendant involved the application of a layer of gold leaf onto the rock crystal. Next, the negative space of the composition would be scratched away with a stylus to create the golden details of the cross and the figures’ haloes. Then, the artist would paint the image with translucent, colored resins. This technique required the reversal of a painter’s usual practice, as highlights in the foreground needed to be added before figures and the background, requiring the artist to keep the finished image in their mind while applying each layer. Finally, a sheet of reflective silver foil was added to the back of the composition. Light is refracted through the rock crystal, passes through the translucent resins, and reflects off the backing, giving the image a luminous quality.

Provenance

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

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