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Altarpiece with Relics - Putto, middle left

Joseph Matthias Götzc. 1735–1740

The Cleveland Museum of Art

The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States

Götz covers every surface in gold leaf, giving each part of the object equal importance, rather than simply framing a central picture. In this distinctively Central European approach, figural narrative is subordinate to the overall ensemble. Götz designed this object to rest on top of an altar, probably in front of a larger painted or sculpted decorative scheme. The work contains relics seen through the small windows on the perimeter. These small remains of holy figures demonstrate the persistence of a medieval Catholic tradition well into the 1700s.

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  • Title: Altarpiece with Relics - Putto, middle left
  • Creator: Joseph Matthias Götz (German, 1696-1760), Workshop
  • Date Created: c. 1735–1740
  • Provenance: Private collection (Styria, Austria), Dr. Kurt Rossacher (Salzburg, Austria), sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1964.
  • Type: Sculpture
  • Rights: CC0
  • External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1964.357.e
  • Medium: gilded wood, with relics in niches: gilded wood, mother-of-pearl, ebony, red silk, gold wire, seed pearls, rock crystal, pen and ink on paper
  • Department: European Painting and Sculpture
  • Culture: Germany, Bavaria, 18th century
  • Credit Line: Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund
  • Collection: Sculpture
  • Accession Number: 1964.357.e
The Cleveland Museum of Art

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