Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Basin showing the 1535 Siege of Tunis by Emperor Charles V
Not on view
There is good reason to believe that the Silver Caesars were made by goldsmiths trained in the Southern Netherlands. Very little silver from the region survives, and this basin is one of the most important examples. Its densely worked surface, alive with soldiers and ships, establishes it as the closest stylistic parallel to the Silver Caesars. The basin was probably commissioned as a gift for an ally of the Habsburg Emperor Charles V. The tazze may have been designed for a similar commemorative purpose.
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