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Source Description
According to legend, the Roman emperor Augustus asked a prophetess if there was anyone greater than himself. It was the day of Christ's birth, and the answer came to the emperor in a vision: a golden circle around the sun, in the middle of which was a beautiful virgin and a child. One side of the pendant shows Augustus and the other, the Virgin and Child. The sophisticated style, superb workmanship, and imagery connect this piece to the Parisian workshop of Jean and Paul de Limbourg from Guelders (in the northern Netherlands), who created some of the finest International Gothic manuscript paintings. They initially trained as goldsmiths and their younger brother Arnold (of whom no works are known) was a goldsmith in Guelders. The enamelist who created this masterpiece and a few related works was an accomplished painter as well as a goldsmith.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
23655
label
Medallion with the Emperor Augustus's Vision of the Virgin and Child
core
obj
dtoType
object
citationUrl
pageCount
2
Source metadata
id
23655
sourceUrl
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Medallion with the Emperor Augustus's Vision of the Virgin and Child
description
According to legend, the Roman emperor Augustus asked a prophetess if there was anyone greater than himself. It was the day of Christ's birth, and the answer came to the emperor in a vision: a golden circle around the sun, in the middle of which was a beautiful virgin and a child. One side of the pendant shows Augustus and the other, the Virgin and Child. The sophisticated style, superb workmanship, and imagery connect this piece to the Parisian workshop of Jean and Paul de Limbourg from Guelders (in the northern Netherlands), who created some of the finest International Gothic manuscript paintings. They initially trained as goldsmiths and their younger brother Arnold (of whom no works are known) was a goldsmith in Guelders. The enamelist who created this masterpiece and a few related works was an accomplished painter as well as a goldsmith.
provenance
The Honourable William Frederick Barton Massey-Mainwaring (28 May 1845 – 12 March 1907), 30 Grosvenor Place, London; with G. R. Harding, London; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1914, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
ca. 1420 (Late Medieval)
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Enamels
medallions (medals)
imageCount
2
pageCount
2
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
6.1
height
5.2
depth
0.5
dimensionsRaw
H: 2 3/8 x Diam: 2 1/16 x D: 3/16 in. (6.1 x 5.2 x 0.5 cm)
Source extras
cul
Burgundian
style
Gothic
med
painted enamel on silver (?) with gilded silver mount
creator_ids
31474
collection_ids
REN
JWL
exhibition_ids
2064
956
2104
2506
2513
2628
3073
Page inventory
seq
1
type
photo
mediaId
ff909d11c8dc2a10
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
2
type
photo
mediaId
1a545edb6fcebbaa
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no