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Source Description
This casket, with its original metalwork intact, incorporates ten plaques with the Labors of Hercules. The Hercules subjects were popularized in Limoges by carvings of about 1533 on the choir screen of the city's cathedral. They were ordered by the new bishop, Jean de Langeac, who became an important supporter of Limoges enamellists. The rendering here, following that in the cathedral, is quite awkward, demonstrating no knowledge of classical form. On the front of the casket are representations of Hercules wrestling with the Nemean lion, capturing the Cretan bull, carrying the "pillars of Hercules," and killing of the giant Cacus. The Latin inscription engraved into the top of the casket reads "Fear God."
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
13666
label
Casket with the Labors of Hercules
core
obj
dtoType
object
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
13666
sourceUrl
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Casket with the Labors of Hercules
description
This casket, with its original metalwork intact, incorporates ten plaques with the Labors of Hercules. The Hercules subjects were popularized in Limoges by carvings of about 1533 on the choir screen of the city's cathedral. They were ordered by the new bishop, Jean de Langeac, who became an important supporter of Limoges enamellists. The rendering here, following that in the cathedral, is quite awkward, demonstrating no knowledge of classical form. On the front of the casket are representations of Hercules wrestling with the Nemean lion, capturing the Cretan bull, carrying the "pillars of Hercules," and killing of the giant Cacus. The Latin inscription engraved into the top of the casket reads "Fear God."
provenance
Lord Hastings' Collection [date and mode of acquisition unknown, sold 1888]; George Robinson Harding [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, April 28, 1919, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
ca. 1540 (Renaissance)
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Enamels
caskets
imageCount
1
pageCount
1
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
12.1
height
19.4
depth
12.4
dimensionsRaw
H: 4 3/4 × W: 7 5/8 × D: 4 7/8 in. (12.1 × 19.4 × 12.4 cm)
Source extras
med
painted enamel on copper, gilded copper, wood
creator_ids
5948
collection_ids
REN
exhibition_ids
2386
170
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
ad21d88843642cff