Reliquary of Mary Magdalene, 14th and 15th century Made in Tuscany, Italy Gilded copper, gilded silver, rock crystal, verre églomisé; Overall 22 x 9 3/8 x 7 15/16 in. (55.9 x 23.8 x 20.2 cm), roundel 3 3/8 in. (8.6 cm) Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917 (17.190.504)
While their choir books were richly colored, Franciscan communities frequently chose more somber verre églomisé, a reverse-glass painting technique, for reliquaries. Although the palette of the glass medallion that crowns the reliquary is limited, the overall effect of crystal and gilded metal is sumptuous. The relic, enclosed in rock crystal, is said to be Mary Magdalene's tooth.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Reliquary of Mary Magdalene
Date:14th and 15th century
Geography:Made in Tuscany, Italy
Culture:North Italian
Medium:Gilded copper, gilded silver, rock crystal, verre églomisé, and a tooth (possibly human)
Dimensions:22 x 9 3/8 x 7 15/16in. (55.9 x 23.8 x 20.2cm) Other (roundel): 3 3/8in. (8.6cm) Other (Rock crystal vessel): 4 5/16 × 2 3/16 × 1 5/8 in. (10.9 × 5.5 × 4.1 cm)
Classification:Metalwork-Copper
Credit Line:Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
Object Number:17.190.504
J. C. Robinson, England (sold 1907); J. Pierpont Morgan (American), London and New York (1907–1917)
Die Nieuwe Kerk. "The Way to Heaven: Relic Veneration in the Middle Ages," December 16, 2000–April 22, 2001.
Knoxville, TN. Frank H. McClung Museum, University of Tennessee. "Sacred Beauty: A Millennium of Religious Art, 600–1600," September 7, 2007–January 6, 2008.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Choirs of Angels: Painting in Italian Choir Books, 1300-1500," November 25, 2008–April 12, 2009.
Cleveland. Cleveland Museum of Art. "Treasures of Heaven: Saints, Relics, and Devotion in Medieval Europe," October 17, 2010–January 17, 2011.
Baltimore. Walters Art Museum. "Treasures of Heaven: Saints, Relics, and Devotion in Medieval Europe," February 13, 2011–May 15, 2011.
Hartford, Conn. Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art. "Morgan: Mind of the Collector," September 23–December 31, 2017.
Breck, Joseph, and Meyric R. Rogers. The Pierpont Morgan Wing: A Handbook. 2nd ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1929. p. 128.
Murray, Maria D. "Reverse-painted and Gilded Glass Through the Ages." The Connoisseur 180 (July 1972). pp. 204–5, fig. 3a–c.
Wixom, William D. "Eleven Additions to the Medieval Collection." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 66, no. 3 (March-April 1979). pp. 141–42, 151.
Hayward, Jane. Glass in the Collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1982). pp. 14–15, fig. 9.
Shepard, Mary B. Europe in the Middle Ages, edited by Charles T. Little, and Timothy B. Husband. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1987. pp. 124–25, pl. 116.
Gaeta Bertelà, Giovanna, and Beatrice Paolozzi Strozzi, ed. Arti del Medio Evo e del Rinascimento: Omaggio ai Carrand, 1889–1989. Florence: Museo Nazionale del Bargello, 1989. p. 396.
Howard, Kathleen, ed. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. 2nd ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1994. no. 38, p. 387.
van Os, Henk. The Way to Heaven: Relic Veneration in the Middle Ages. Baarn, the Netherlands: De Prom, 2000. pp. 152–155.
Strouse, Jean. "J. Pierpont Morgan, Financier and Collector." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., 57, no. 3 (Winter 2000). pp. 14–15, fig. 13, 14.
Carboni, Stefano, and Timothy B. Husband. "Ars Vitraria: Glass in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Medieval Art and the Cloisters." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., 59, no. 1 (Summer 2001). p. 36.
Neff, Amy. "Christianity." In Sacred Beauty: A Millennium of Religious Art, 600–1600. , Vol. 19. Knoxville: Frank H. McClung Museum, University of Tennessee, 2007. pp. 13, 15, ill. p. 13.
Bagnoli, Martina, Holger A. Klein, C. Griffith Mann, and James Robinson, ed. Treasures of Heaven: Saints, Relics, and Devotion in Medieval Europe. Cleveland, Baltimore, and London: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2010. no. 110, pp. 196–197.
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