Panel
ca. 1390-1410 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This is one of five panels (A76 to A80-1919) from a casket or an altarpiece made at the workshop of Baldassare Embriachi (Ubriachi) in about 1390-1410 in North Italy, Florence or Venice. This panel depicts the plague of the frogs (Exodus, VIII, 1-15). The remaining plaques illustrate another three of the ten biblical plagues of Egypt and the fifth depicts a shepherd in a landscape.
Embriachi plaques depicting the Old Testament are rare, and only one casket with Old Testament scenes is known.
The Embriachi workshop was a north Italian family of entrepreneurs and carvers. The precise location of the workshop is unknown, except that it originated in Florence in around probably the 1370s.
Baldassare Embriachi, a member of a Florentine noble family, and the Florentine literary circles, during his career acted as both merchant and diplomat. He was therefore rather the financial means behind the bone-carving workshop that bears his name, rather than its leading artist. By 1395, political and financial circumstances had forced him to transfer to Venice. The suggested time range of activity for the workshop differs, from the tightest being 1390-1405, to a wider span of 1370s until at least 1416, but certainly no later than 1433.
They employed local workers specialising in 'certosina' (inlay of stained woods, bone and horn), and the workshop produced items carved in bone (usually horse or ox) with wood and bone marquetry.
As well as altarpieces, the workshop also made caskets as bridal gifts to hold jewels or documents, and these were often decorated with scenes from mythology.
Embriachi plaques depicting the Old Testament are rare, and only one casket with Old Testament scenes is known.
The Embriachi workshop was a north Italian family of entrepreneurs and carvers. The precise location of the workshop is unknown, except that it originated in Florence in around probably the 1370s.
Baldassare Embriachi, a member of a Florentine noble family, and the Florentine literary circles, during his career acted as both merchant and diplomat. He was therefore rather the financial means behind the bone-carving workshop that bears his name, rather than its leading artist. By 1395, political and financial circumstances had forced him to transfer to Venice. The suggested time range of activity for the workshop differs, from the tightest being 1390-1405, to a wider span of 1370s until at least 1416, but certainly no later than 1433.
They employed local workers specialising in 'certosina' (inlay of stained woods, bone and horn), and the workshop produced items carved in bone (usually horse or ox) with wood and bone marquetry.
As well as altarpieces, the workshop also made caskets as bridal gifts to hold jewels or documents, and these were often decorated with scenes from mythology.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Carved bone |
| Brief description | Plaque, bone, the plague of frogs, by the workshop of Baldassare Ubriachi, Northern Italian (Florence or Venice), ca. 1390-1410 |
| Physical description | Bone panel from a casket depicting the Plague of Frogs. |
| Dimensions |
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| Object history | In the collection of the architect Bernard H. Webb, Gosmore, ear Hitchin in Hertfordshire, before 1919; Webb had most likely acquired the panels in Italy, as other pieces in his collection were certainly bought from dealers in Florence and Siena (correspondence in Museum records); bequeathed by Webb in 1919. This plaque is one of five plaques that now form a whole and are set in a modern wooden frame. According to a note on the departmental record card, this was made in the Art Work Room of the Museum shortly after the plaques' acquisition. |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | This is one of five panels (A76 to A80-1919) from a casket or an altarpiece made at the workshop of Baldassare Embriachi (Ubriachi) in about 1390-1410 in North Italy, Florence or Venice. This panel depicts the plague of the frogs (Exodus, VIII, 1-15). The remaining plaques illustrate another three of the ten biblical plagues of Egypt and the fifth depicts a shepherd in a landscape. Embriachi plaques depicting the Old Testament are rare, and only one casket with Old Testament scenes is known. The Embriachi workshop was a north Italian family of entrepreneurs and carvers. The precise location of the workshop is unknown, except that it originated in Florence in around probably the 1370s. Baldassare Embriachi, a member of a Florentine noble family, and the Florentine literary circles, during his career acted as both merchant and diplomat. He was therefore rather the financial means behind the bone-carving workshop that bears his name, rather than its leading artist. By 1395, political and financial circumstances had forced him to transfer to Venice. The suggested time range of activity for the workshop differs, from the tightest being 1390-1405, to a wider span of 1370s until at least 1416, but certainly no later than 1433. They employed local workers specialising in 'certosina' (inlay of stained woods, bone and horn), and the workshop produced items carved in bone (usually horse or ox) with wood and bone marquetry. As well as altarpieces, the workshop also made caskets as bridal gifts to hold jewels or documents, and these were often decorated with scenes from mythology. |
| Associated objects | |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | A.77-1919 |
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| Record created | June 24, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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