Ring
1400-1500 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Rings are the most commonly surviving medieval jewels. They were worn by both sexes, across all levels of society. Some portraits show wearers with multiple rings across all their fingers. This silver ring is decorated with a portrait of a woman, engraved into the silver and coloured black with niello (a paste of copper, silver and lead sulphides). The image may be a portrait of a particular woman but it could also relate to the tradition of female profile portraits (such as Domenico Ghirlandaio's 'Portrait of Giovanna Tornabuoni', 1488) but also to the contemporary 'belle donne' maiolica dishes decorated with standardized bust portraits of women.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Engraved and nielloed silver |
| Brief description | Nielloed silver ring, the bezel decorated with the bust of a woman, and the shoulders decorated with rosettes. Italy, 1400-1500. |
| Physical description | Nielloed silver ring, the bezel decorated with the bust of a woman, and the shoulders decorated with rosettes. |
| Dimensions |
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| Object history | These Italian niello rings engraved with female busts may perhaps relate to the tradition of female profile portraits (eg. Domenico Ghirlandaio's 'Portrait of Giovanna Tornabuoni', 1488) but also to the contemporary 'belle donne' maiolica dishes decorated with standardized bust portraits of women. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | Rings are the most commonly surviving medieval jewels. They were worn by both sexes, across all levels of society. Some portraits show wearers with multiple rings across all their fingers. This silver ring is decorated with a portrait of a woman, engraved into the silver and coloured black with niello (a paste of copper, silver and lead sulphides). The image may be a portrait of a particular woman but it could also relate to the tradition of female profile portraits (such as Domenico Ghirlandaio's 'Portrait of Giovanna Tornabuoni', 1488) but also to the contemporary 'belle donne' maiolica dishes decorated with standardized bust portraits of women. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 7550-1861 |
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| Record created | March 7, 2006 |
| Record URL |
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