Plaque with Virgin and Child
1580–1600
Medium
Gilt bronze set against a field lapis lazuli, agate, and Sicilian jasper
Dimensions
36.9 × 24.2 × 2.9 cm (14 1/2 × 9 1/2 × 1 1/8 in.)
Classification
relief
Department
Applied Arts of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
40680
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Opus sectile, or the art of inlaying stones, was a form of ancient Roman decoration revived during the 16th century in Milan, Rome, and Florence. It was employed for the decoration of tabletops, cabinets, and other ecclesiastical and secular furnishings, and it combined marbles with hard stones like agate, which were much more difficult to cut, to form abstract patterns or images. This plaque would have been a small devotional object for a wealthy household and was probably made in Rome during t...
About the Artist
Unknown
The artist designated as "Unknown" in our virtual museum's collection exemplifies a poignant chapter in art history: creators whose identities have faded into obscurity despite the enduring power of their work. With only one known artwork attributed to them in our holdings, this figure represents countless anonymous hands that shaped visual culture across centuries. Museums worldwide, including th...