Pendant with the Virgin and Child

Description

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.

Provenance

Comtesse de Robiano, Brussels, Belgium; Charles Ducatel, Paris, France (?-1890); Albin Chalandon, Lyon, France, by inheritance to his son, Georges Chalandon (1890-?); Georges Chalandon, Paris, France; (Arnold Seligmann, Rey, & Co., New York, NY sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) (?-1926); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1926-)

Pendant with the Virgin and Child

Godefroid de Huy

c. 1160–1170

Accession Number

1926.428

Medium

gilded copper, champlevé enamel; the reverse decorated in vernis brun

Dimensions

Overall: 19.8 x 17 x 3.2 cm (7 13/16 x 6 11/16 x 1 1/4 in.)

Classification

Enamel

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund