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Pendant with the Virgin and Child
Godefroid de Huy (Netherlandish)c. 1160-1170
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States
This pendant was made in the Rhine-Meuse region--now in modern Belgium--renowned for the production of fine metalwork objects, especially enamels. An enamel plaque depicting the enthroned Virgin and Christ child dominates the pendant. Four peripheral enamels depict angelic figures representing virtues: Humility, Virginity, Piety, and Mercy, each identified by an inscription. The pendant may have been made to serve as a reliquary to house a consecrated host. The refined craftsmanship and costly materials fittingly honor these sacred remains.
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Details
- Title: Pendant with the Virgin and Child
- Creator: Godefroid de Huy (Netherlandish)
- Date Created: c. 1160-1170
- Physical Dimensions: Overall: 19.8 x 17 x 3.2 cm (7 13/16 x 6 11/16 x 1 1/4 in.)
- Provenance: Comtesse de Robiano, Brussels, Belgium, Charles Ducatel, Paris, France, Albin Chalandon, Lyon, France, by inheritance to his son, Georges Chalandon, Georges Chalandon, Paris, France, (Arnold Seligmann, Rey, & Co., New York, NY sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Type: Enamel
- Rights: CC0
- External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1926.428
- Medium: gilded copper, champlevé enamel; the reverse decorated in vernis brun
- Inscriptions: S[AN]C[T]A MARIA MATER D[OMI]NI, HVMILITAS; VIRGINITAS; MISERICORDIA; PIETAS
- Fun Fact: The outer lobes contain cabochons, gemstones that have been shaped and polished resulting in a rounded top and flat bottom, of garnet, glass, and quartz.
- Department: Medieval Art
- Culture: Mosan, Meuse Valley, Romanesque period, 12th century
- Credit Line: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
- Collection: MED - Romanesque
- Accession Number: 1926.428
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