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Source Description
The bust-length personification of Charity appears as a golden figure against a blue enamel background with green and white enamel borders. The engraved outlines of the face, hands and drapery are highlighted with red enamel as is the lettering. This technique and combination of colors is characteristic of enamels made in the vicinity of Cologne, Germany, in the second half of the twelfth century. Charity and its mate, Justice (Walters 44.99), plausibly were part of a series illustrating virtues adorning a book cover, reliquary shrine or portable altar.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
33387
label
Charity
core
obj
dtoType
object
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
33387
sourceUrl
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Charity
description
The bust-length personification of Charity appears as a golden figure against a blue enamel background with green and white enamel borders. The engraved outlines of the face, hands and drapery are highlighted with red enamel as is the lettering. This technique and combination of colors is characteristic of enamels made in the vicinity of Cologne, Germany, in the second half of the twelfth century. Charity and its mate, Justice (Walters 44.99), plausibly were part of a series illustrating virtues adorning a book cover, reliquary shrine or portable altar.
provenance
A. Tollin, Paris, by purchase; Sale, Hotel Drouot, Paris, May 20, 1897, no. ???; Jacques Seligmann, Paris, by purchase; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1922, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
1170-1180 (Medieval)
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Enamels
plaques
imageCount
1
pageCount
1
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
4
height
2.6
depth
0.3
dimensionsRaw
1 9/16 x 1 x 1/8 in. (4 x 2.6 x 0.3 cm)
Source extras
cul
Rhenish
style
Romanesque
inscriptions
In red enamel on gold gilded scroll above Charity's head: CARITAS; [Translation] Charity.Stamped with makers mark on reverse.
med
champlevé enamel on gilded copper
creator_ids
5094
collection_ids
MED
exhibition_ids
192
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
687482b009816297