Pendant
after 1855 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
The micromosaic Christ on this pendant was inspired by a twelfth-century mosaic in the apse of the church of San Clemente in Rome. The Castellani family made their first micromosaic jewellery using Christian subjects in the mid 1850s. Judy Rudoe notes that micromosaics depicting the Christ from San Clemente occur regularly in the Castellani archives.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
|
| Materials and techniques | gold, with enamel and micromosaic of coloured glass and gold |
| Brief description | Pendant, gold, enamel, and with a micromosaic of 'Christ in Benediction', the reverse with a cross, Castellani, Italy, circa 1860 Octagonal case covered in maroon fabric |
| Physical description | Gold pendant with micromosaic Christ Pantokrator and micromosaic geometric border composed of blue and red triangles on a white ground on the obverse, and on the reverse a gold cross with terminals of fleurs-de-lys within a quatrefoil gold frame and circular bands of gold and blue enamel. Around the sides runs an inscription in relief composed of gold letters on a blue enamel ground. |
| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Credit line | Given by the American Friends of the V&A through the generosity of Judith H. Siegel |
| Object history | The figure of the Christ derives from a mosaic in the apse of San Clemente, Rome |
| Summary | The micromosaic Christ on this pendant was inspired by a twelfth-century mosaic in the apse of the church of San Clemente in Rome. The Castellani family made their first micromosaic jewellery using Christian subjects in the mid 1850s. Judy Rudoe notes that micromosaics depicting the Christ from San Clemente occur regularly in the Castellani archives. |
| Bibliographic reference | Rudoe, Judy. 'Micromosaics and their sources.' In: Soros, Susan Weber and Walker, Stefanie, eds, Castellani and Italian Archaeological Jewelry. New Haven and London: published for the Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design and Culture, New York, by Yale University Press. Pages 171-2; fig. 6-32. Checklist no. 121, p. 364. |
| Other number | LOAN:AMERICANFRIENDS.440-2007 - Previous loan number |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | M.7:1,2-2011 |
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| Record created | April 29, 2008 |
| Record URL |
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