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Source Description
High-ranking or wealthy Greek women often wore elaborate diadems and hairnets of gold and gemstones as part of their jewelry. The centerpiece of this intricate openwork diadem is adorned with a large Hercules knot, inspired by the one the hero used to tie the paws of the lion skin he wore. Due to its protective quality, it also became important in marriage symbolism and was a common motif for women's jewelry of the Hellenistic period, and in royal Macedonian art more generally. The Roman author Pliny (AD 23-79) even attributed healing qualities to the Hercules knot. This elaborate example is decorated with a miniature snake on each of the four edges, twelve gold rosettes, and two long tassels, which would be placed on the forehead.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
9340
label
Diadem
core
obj
dtoType
object
citationUrl
pageCount
3
Source metadata
id
9340
sourceUrl
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Diadem
description
High-ranking or wealthy Greek women often wore elaborate diadems and hairnets of gold and gemstones as part of their jewelry. The centerpiece of this intricate openwork diadem is adorned with a large Hercules knot, inspired by the one the hero used to tie the paws of the lion skin he wore. Due to its protective quality, it also became important in marriage symbolism and was a common motif for women's jewelry of the Hellenistic period, and in royal Macedonian art more generally. The Roman author Pliny (AD 23-79) even attributed healing qualities to the Hercules knot. This elaborate example is decorated with a miniature snake on each of the four edges, twelve gold rosettes, and two long tassels, which would be placed on the forehead.
provenance
Collection of Canessa Sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, May 11-14, 1903, lot 259; E. Guilhou [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Collection of E. Guilhou Sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, March 16-18, 1905, lot 82; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1905, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
3rd-2nd century BC (Hellenistic)
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Gold, Silver & Jewelry
diadems
jewelry
imageCount
3
pageCount
3
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
45.1
height
6.1
depth
0.7
dimensionsRaw
L: 17 3/4 × W: 2 3/8 × D: 1/4 in. (45.09 × 6.1 × 0.7 cm)
Source extras
cul
Greek
style
Hellenistic
med
gold, garnet, enamel
creator_ids
6256
collection_ids
GRC
JWL
exhibition_ids
1954
2227
2513
2237
3294
Page inventory
seq
1
type
photo
mediaId
b0438c0b275cc911
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
2
type
photo
mediaId
37ce2323dbeeec9c
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
3
type
photo
mediaId
942d36698f1b5688
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no