
- Miniature relief
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Miniature relief
- Place of origin:
Germany (made)
Germany (possibly, made)
Bohemia (possibly, stylistically close to work produced in the context of Rudolph II's court in Prague, made) - Date:
ca. 1620 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Unknown
- Materials and Techniques:
Gold, chased and embossed
- Credit Line:
The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London
- Museum number:
LOAN:GILBERT.20:2-2008
- Gallery location:
In Storage
This fragile and intricate miniature gold relief consists of several sheets of gold that were chased and arranged by an unknown but extremely talented artist in the early seventeenth century. It depicts the biblical story of the Sacrifice of Isaac, and is associated with a slightly larger relief with the Crucifixion. Both of them appear to originate from the same precious object for private devotion. The amount of detail and ability of the maker to create a dynamic composition closely following the descriptions of the Bible are remarkable.
The fragment has been mounted on a bespoke leather back and thus has become an independent work of art appreciated for its artistic and material value. This might have happened comparatively shortly after its creation and allowed close-up study. Several different types of nails used for securing the gold relief to the back and marks applied to the piece when it was imported to France in the late nineteenth century are testimony that this plaque remained a treasured masterpiece over centuries.
Sir Arthur Gilbert (1913-2001) and his wife Rosalinde (1913-1995) formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. The collection is on long-term loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum.