Disk Brooch
Unknown Artist
6th century
Medium
Copper alloy, gilded, mother-of-pear; garnets and green glass inlaid with silver foil backings; copper alloy back, no spring/pin extant
Dimensions
Overall: 1 x 11/16 in. (2.6 x 1.7 cm)
Classification
Metalwork-Copper alloy
Culture
Frankish
Department
Medieval Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
Accession Number
17.191.17
Art Historical Context
This exquisite Disk Brooch, crafted by an unknown Frankish artisan in the 6th century, hails from the Merovingian era—a time when the Franks rose as a dominant power in post-Roman Europe, blending Germanic traditions with lingering Roman influences. Measuring just 1 x 1 11/16 inches (2.6 x 1.7 cm), this tiny jewel served as a cloak fastener, adorning the elite with its intricate design. Now housed in the Metropolitan Museum of's Medieval Art Department (gift of J. Pier Morgan, 1917), it exemplifies the sophisticated metalwork of early medieval Frankish culture. The brooch's face dazzles with ...