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Antique Gilded Silver Renaissance Reliquary Pendant in Book Form

$22,000List Price

About the Item

Reliquary Pendant in Book Form Southern Germany, probably Augsburg, c. 1550 Gilded silver, verre églomisé Weight 14.1 grams; dimensions 35 × 29 × 13 mm Gilded silver pendant in book form with hinged lid, corded wire surround, and engraved spine. The front cover of the book is set with a glass plaque depicting the Nativity in verre églomisé; the back cover shows the Annunciation. When opened, inside is Christ as Ecce Homo under a trefoiled arch, and opposite is a relic (missing) surrounded by a golden aureole against a red background. Trefoil-shaped pendant loop on top and bottom, and book clasp. Nothing could be more satisfying, intellectually and devotionally, than combining the functions of the personal reliquary and the book. One opens and looks into either with the expectation of encountering knowledge and truth. In the case of this tiny book, there are no words, only pictures, but ample satisfaction nonetheless derives from the revelation of the holy images and perhaps even the material presence of a relic secreted within the tiny, precious covers. The fashion for miniature book jewels seems to have emerged in the sixteenth century. Romina Ebenhoech has identified eight very similar surviving examples with verre églomisé images. The three examples in this collection represent a significant proportion of the surviving corpus. An early publication on the book pendants suggested that the metal frames and the inset reverse-painted glass were manufactured separately, which could well be the case. If so, the individual books may represent a personalized devotional object with four images selected by the patron, each a separate jewel painted in red and white and glowing with gold. In his Autobiography, Benvenuto Cellini recommended gold-glass reverse painting as an appropriate medium for the production of reliquaries. It responds especially well to the flickering nature of candlelight (as on altars). In this example, the front of the book represents the Nativity and the back the Annunciation, inverting the narrative order, but perhaps satisfying devotional needs. The patron might have wished to have the Nativity as the primary image—especially appealing here in the Bridgettine vision of Mary praying before the newborn Christ, who glows brighter than any light, even the candle held by St. Joseph. Opening the book, however, triggers a different mode of more affective devotion. Confronting the viewer at the core of the little book is the body of Christ. This is the Ecce Homo, the moment in the Gospel story when Christ was presented before Pontius Pilate. The image gained currency after 1500, following the format of the Man of Sorrows but representing an event that took place before the Crucifixion, therefore without the display of Christ’s wounds. Christ’s humiliation is one of the first events of the Passion and this image focuses on his patient suffering. His wrists are bound; one hand holds the reed “scepter,” and his shoulders are draped with the purple cloak that simultaneously signifies his humiliation by the Roman soldiers while alluding to his true royalty. Across from this icon, a light-colored field surrounded by a golden sunburst is set against a field of red and a surround of heavenly “clouds.” There is, however, a sense of something missing here. Could a relic have been attached to this central field? If so, it might have been a Passion relic, perhaps a tiny fragment of the True Cross, or some sort of manifestation of a miraculous host. The monstrance-like sunburst would have equated the object with the body of Christ, the corpus Christi, which may be visually compared across the space of the book opening. Other tiny pendant books were certainly reliquaries and supplied something of this same effect. At least three similar books contain images of the Agnus Dei, and it has been suggested that one held the blessed wax of the Agnus Dei. A somewhat different strategy is used in a tiny reliquary book from the Musée du Louvre. In that example, a pierced cage safeguards its precious relic while giving visual access to the contents. Comparisons and Literature: Known examples of such book pendants date from the sixteenth to the seventeenth century, and the attributions vary from Spain and Italy to southern Germany. A center in southern Germany, such as Nuremberg or Augsburg, seems more likely for the goldsmiths’ work. The technique of verre églomisé was practiced in various western European countries, foremost in southern Germany, northern Switzerland Spain, and Italy; see Ryser 1991. For the Birth of Christ scene in verre églomisé (50026), cf. an example in the Ryser Collection. Examples of these book pendants, which appear to come from the same region and have the same trefoil-shaped pendant loops, are in the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; Courtauld Gallery, London; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Ryser Collection in the Vitromusée Romont; Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich; and the Green Vaults, Dresden. A variant with silver engraved scenes from the life of Christ is in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, and made in Nuremberg in 1512. See also R. Forrer 1942, pp. 5-8.

Metal:
Silver,Gilt Metal
Weight:
14.1 g
Dimensions:
Width: 1.15 in (29 mm)Depth: 0.52 in (13 mm)Length: 1.38 in (35 mm)
Style:
Renaissance
Place of Origin:
Germany
Period:
16th Century
Date of Manufacture:
c. 1550
Condition:
Wear consistent with age and use.
Seller Location:
Chicago, IL
Reference Number:
Seller: J-500261stDibs: LU2334213073602

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