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Pendant with Agnus Dei and the Virgin Mary with the Child late 15th Century

$5,374.19
£3,971.20
€4,500
CA$7,444.81
A$8,137.44
CHF 4,285.79
MX$100,057.70
NOK 53,560.62
SEK 50,389.98
DKK 34,267.18

About the Item

Italian (Florence) about 1455–65 Dimensions: 3,8 x 3 cm Weight: 17 gr The slightly oval-shaped pendant is encased in a filigree silver frame, inlaid with thin copper wires, while the edges show traces of an ancient fire gilding. The frame, therefore, encloses a silver plate finely engraved with the niello technique on both sides. On one side, in fact, there is a representation of a Madonna with Child in intimate attitude, where the child is not caught in a blessing pose but addressed to the mother, suggesting that it may be an iconography of the Virgo Lactans, in which Mary offers the breast to the baby Jesus, very widespread in the Medieval period and in the early Renaissance but fell into disuse with the counterreformed norms of the Council of Trent (1545). On the opposite side of the pendant, instead, is depicted the Agnus Dei, symbol of Christ as a sacrificial victim for the redemption of humanity’s sins, here accompanied by the typical crusader flag symbol of victory over death and sin. Niello containers with similar imagery are believed to have originated in the fourteenth century, when popes gave them out as protective, talismanic ornaments. Wax renderings of the lamb or relics of a saint or other religious artifacts were placed inside these adornments.3 The Agnus Dei on the reverse of this marriage pendant may have served to protect its wearer during pregnancy, childbirth, and illness Yvonne J. Markowitz, “Marriage Pendant” in Artful Adornments: Jewelry from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston by Yvonne J. Markowitz (Boston: MFA Publications, 2011), 107.
  • Metal:
  • Weight:
    17 g
  • Style:
  • Place of Origin:
  • Period:
  • Date of Manufacture:
    1465's
  • Condition:
    Wear consistent with age and use.
  • Seller Location:
    Firenze, IT
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU12026151922

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