Virgin on Crescent Moon
Unknown Artist
1630
Medium
Gilt bronze
Dimensions
6 x 3 15/16 in. (15.2 x 10 cm.); Diam. (w. handle): 2-3/16 in. (5.6 cm.)
Classification
Medals and Plaquettes
Culture
Spanish
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Ruth Friedman, in memory of Harry G. Friedman, 1966
Accession Number
66.39.1
Tags
Art Historical Context
This exquisite gilt bronze plaquette, titled *Virgin on Crescent Moon*, to 1630 and hails from Spain, a period when fervent Catholic devotion flourished amid the Counter-Reformation. Crafted by an unknown artist, it measures just 6 x 3 15/16 inches (15.2 x 10 cm.), small enough to hold in the palm, with a handle suggesting it doubled as a portable devotional object or pendant. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, it exemplifies the intricate medals and plaquettes popular in 17th-century Europe for personal piety. The imagery draws fr...