Volume 1 / 1968

METRO
MUSEUM
JOURNAL

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

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EditorialBoard

BRIAN F. COOK
Associate Curator of Greek and Roman Art

HELMUT NICKEL
Curator of Arms and Armor

OLGA RAGGIO
Curator of Western European Arts

CLAUS VIRCH
Curator of European Paintings

Managing Editor: A N N E P R E U S S

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Copyright ? I968 The Metropolitan Museum of Art

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Contents

Winged Bull Cauldron Attachments from Iran 7

OSCAR WHITE MUSCARELLA

Portrait Bust of a Young Lady of the Time of Justinian i9

ELISABETH ALFOLDI-ROSENBAUM

A Group of Fourteenth-CenturyMosan Sculptures 4I

WILLIAM H. FORSYTH

Ceremonial Arrowheadsfrom Bohemia 6i

HELMUT NICKEL

A Spinettina for the Duchess of Urbino 95

EMANUEL WINTERNITZ

Patrons of Robert Adam at the Metropolitan Museum IO9

JAMES PARKER

The Pictures within Degas's Pictures I25

THEODORE REFF

Notes
Two EtruscanBronze Statuettes 167
BRIAN F. COOK

Three Berry Mourners I 71

BELLA BESSARD
Foreword

THE METROPOLITAN Museum of Art was founded almost a century ago, and it has since
grown to be one of the world's major museums. The basis of its program of acquisition,
exhibition, and education has beenried the out by membersof its staff, but
this researchhas remained one of the least known of the Museum's activities. The respon-
sibility of the Museum as an institution for researchwas fully recognized by Thomas P. F.
Hoving when he became Director in 1967. Realizing the need, he immediately proposed
a scholarlyjournal to make better known this part of the Museum'sfunction. Mr. Hoving's
projectwas emphatically supported by Arthur A. Houghton, Jr., the Museum's President,
and by the Trustees, who approved the publication of a new periodical, the Metropolitan
MuseumJournal.This marks one more important step in the history of the Museum's
progress.
The Journalwill be published annually and will contain articles and shorter notes in all
fields of art representedin the Museum. Written both by membersof the staff and by other
scholars, they will reflect in their diversity the wide range of our holdings. The need for a
periodical to presentin a scholarlymanner the resultsof our researchhas been felt ever since
the Metropolitan MuseumStudieswere discontinued in 1936. While the Journalis devoted to
scholarship, the Museum's Bulletinwill continue to widen its appeal to the members of the
Museum and the general public, and lengthier studies will be presentedoccasionallyin the
Papers.
The Editorsare proud to presentthis firstissue of the Metropolitan MuseumJournal,hoping
that it is the beginning of a new and significantcontributionto scholarshipconcerned with
the history of art.

BRIAN F. COOK
HELMUT NICKEL
OLGA RAGGIO
CLAUS VIRCH

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 Winged Bull Cauldron Attachments

from Iran

OSCAR WHITE MUSCARELLA

AssistantCuratorof AncientNearEasternArt, TheMetropolitan

Museumof Art

IN 1967 The Metropolitan Museum of Art acquired two grooves. The chest hair is decorated in the same
a bronze handle attachment in the form of a winged fashion, and a lock of hair, resembling a tassel more
bull (Figures 1-4) .1 It is one of a pair; the other attach- than animal hair, hangs down on both sides of the
ment, its mate, exactly the same in all details and mane. The wings and tail have a feather pattern but
perhaps made from the same mould (Figure 5), is now are otherwise plain, without hatching.
in the collection of Norbert Schimmel. Both pieces Both attachments were originally applied to the rim
were acquired in Tehran, according to the dealer from of a large cauldron by means of a rivet at each wing.
whom they were purchased. These rivets were hammered through the wings and
Each attachment consists of the head, neck, and the underlying cauldron, a fragment of which is still
chest of a bull joined with the wings and tail of a bird, attached. The bulls faced into the cauldron.
all cast as one unit. A ring, cast with the other parts, is Winged bull attachments used as cauldron handles
situated at the rear of the bull; it holds a separately are found in several areas of the Near East. They occur
made loop handle which swings freely. at Gordion in Phrygia (ten); at Zincirli (one), Tell
The eyes and brows of each bull are well modeled. Rifa'at (two), and possibly at Aleppo (one), in North
The muzzle is delineated by two vertical grooves Syria; at Toprakkale (four), Altintepe (four), and
coming down from the inner corner of the eyes, and Karmir Blur (one), in Urartu; at a site near Guschi
a horizontal groove above the nostrils. The nostrils (four) on the west shore of Lake Urmia, and at a site
are marked by two depressions, the mouth by a short near Alishar (one) on the Araxes River, both sites in
groove. A hatched collar, or ruff, connects the mouth Northwest Iran2; an example in the British Museum is
and ears on each side of the face. The horns project
forward, curving initially outward, then inward, and I. Acc. no. 67.106; wing span: 15.7 cm.; length from tail to
finally outward again, forming an S curve. The ears horns: 13.9 cm.; height from chest to top of horns: 5.5 cm.; outer
diameter of the loop handle: 9.3 cm.; weight of attachment with-
are thrust forward under the horns at a slight decline.
out the ring: I 194 grams; weight of the loop handle: i92 grams.
The forelock, placed below the horns, is rounded at 2. Gordion: R. S. Young, "The Gordion Campaign of 1957:
the base and is decorated with simple vertical hatch- Preliminary Report," AmericanJournalof Archaeology62 (1958) p.
I51, pl. 26, fig. i8, pl. 25, fig. 15 right for the cauldron; Kunstund
ing in four levels. The stylized mane at the back of KulturderHethiter(Kunsthaus, Zurich, 196 ) p. Io2, no. 198 for one
the neck is decorated with a herringbone pattern dinos; R. S. Young, "The Gordion Campaign of 1959: Preliminary
divided and bordered by incised dots framed within Report," AJA 64 (1960) pp. 231 ff., pl. 55, fig. I I for the examples

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

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 FIGURES 1-4
Bull cauldron attachment, about 600 B.C., from
Iran. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, gift of
H. Dunscombe Colt, 67.106

.. y
-w
O'
*A.

.: s

FIGURES 6, 7 (OPPOSITE)
Bull cauldron attachment, from Amyclae. Athens
National Museum, no. 7763

8
 also reported to have been found near Lake Urmia.3
Similar bull attachments, some imported, some lo-
cally made, are known from the west: from the islands
of Cyprus, Rhodes, and Samos; from Greek mainland
sanctuaries, Olympia, Delphi, Athens, the Argive
Heraeum, and from Amyclae (Figures 6-7).4 Finally,
two bull attachments on a cauldron are said to have
been found at Cumae in Italy and are now in Copen-
hagen.

from Tumulus W; G. Roger Edwards, "Gordion: 1962," Expedition

5 (I963) p. 45, no. 22 for one city mound example. North Syria:
W. Andrae, Die KleinfundevonSendschirli(Berlin, 1943) p. 107, pl.
49, g; M. V. Seton-Williams, "Preliminary Report on the Exca-
vations at Tell Rifa'at," Iraq 23 (I96I) p. 79, pl. 41, no. 14; R.
Dussaud, "Hadad et le Soleil," SyriaI I (I930) p. 366, fig. 2, bought
at Aleppo and presumably found there or in the vicinity; it is now
in the Louvre. Urartu and northwest Iran: R. D. Barnett, "The
Excavations of the Br. Museum at Toprak Kale near Van," Iraq 12
FIGURE 5 (I950) p. 19, pl. i6; "Russian Excav. in Armenia," Iraq 14 (I952)
Bull cauldron attachment, about 600 from p. 137, fig. 8, p. 142; P. Amandry, "Chaudrons a Protomes de
B.C.,
Taureau en Orient et en Grece," The Aegeanand theNear East, ed.
Iran. Courtesy of the Norbert Schimmel col- S. Weinberg (New York, 1956) pp. 239 ff., pls. 24-27; G. M. A.
lection, New York Hanfmann, "Four Urartian Bull Heads," AnatolianStudies6 (1956)
pp. 205 ff., p. 21 I and notes 14 and 15; M. N. van Loon, Urartian
Art (Istanbul, 1966) pp. 103 ff. The Alishar bull was found with a
siren attachment. See also C. F. C. Hawkes, M. A. Smith, "On
Some Buckets and Cauldrons of the Bronze and Early Iron Ages,"
Antiquaries'Journal37 (I957) p. I69. B. Goldman in Journalof Near
EasternStudies20 (1961) p. 243, note 6, mentions a Near-Eastern-
type bull attachment in the Brussels Royal Museum of Art and
History; it is otherwise unknown to me.
3. Amandry, "Chaudrons," p. 260, pl. 32, p. 3.
4. For a discussion of examples found in Greece and the Aegean
see: Amandry, "Chaudrons," pp. 242 ff., pp. 249 ff.; P. Amandry,
"Objets Orientaux en Grece," Syria 35 (1958) pp. 73 if.; "Gr&ce
et Orient," AtudesD'ArcheologieClassique(Paris, 1958) p. 9; U.
Jantzen, GriechischeGriefenkessel(Berlin, I955) p. 50, pl. 6o, 3; E.
Kunze, "Verkannter orientalischer Kesselschmuck aus dem argi-
vischen Heraion," ReineckeFestschrift (Mainz, I950) pp. 96 ff.;
H. Herrmann, Die Kessel der orientalisierenden Zeit (Berlin, 1966)
pp. 114 ff., I29. (This volume reached me when this manu-
script was basically completed.) An attachment from Idalion, H.
Catling, CyprioteBronzeworkin the MycenaeanWorld(Oxford, 1964)
pp. 154-155, pl. 2 I, e, seems to me to be eighth- or seventh-century
B.C. in date; it may also be a Greek copy. Catling sees a resemblance
to Urartian examples but believes it to be late Mycenaean in date;
see also E. Gjerstad et al., SwedishCyprusExpedition(Stockholm,
1935) II, p. 540, no. 290, pi. CLXXIX, nos. 14, 15; p. 602 and p. 624
where the object is said to be from Period 3, late Cypriote III. For
another series of Cypriote bull attachments see V. Karageorghis,
"Chronique des Fouilles &Chypre en 1966," Bulletin de Correspon-
danceHell6nique9 , I (1967) p. 346, p. 344 and fig. 149. Each handle
has three bulls, a feature not known in the Near East, to my
knowledge. The example cited here from Amyclae has not hitherto
been published. It is in the National Museum in Athens, no. 7763;
it is 6 cm. in height. I am indebted to Dr. George Dontas for permis-
sion to publish the object in this Journal.

9
 5.I
;>XI.

____I.

FIGURE 8

Types of Urartian and Near Eastern cauldron attachments. No. i, Altintepe, VIII century B.C.; no. 2,
Cumae, probably VIII century B.C., Copenhagen; no. 3, Gordion, Tumulus MM, viii century B.C. From
B. B. Piotrovsky, IskusstvoUrartu(Leningrad, 1962) fig. 32

Bull attachments seem to have been manufactured text.2 All the examples from Urartu-except the one
in the eighth and early seventh centuries B.C. Some of from Karmir Blur-are from the eighth century; the
the earliest examples that can be dated without much examples from northwest Iran presumably also belong
controversy are ten attachments (five pairs) found to this period.5
at Gordion. One pair was found on a cauldron (Fig- A stylistic analysis of the bull attachments found in
ure 8, no. 3) and a pair on each of two dinoi (Figure 9), the various areas of the Near East yields evidence that
all three vessels from the King's Tomb, Tumulus MM, enables us to conclude that there were basically two
which is dated to the last third of the eighth century different groups manufactured.
B.C. A pair was found on a cauldron in Tumulus W also All of the bull attachments found in Urartu, except
dated to the last third of the eighth century; and an- the one from Karmir Blur, and those from northwest
other pair was recovered on a cauldron from the debris Iran form an easily recognizable group that has been
of the Phrygian city destroyed by the Kimmerians in called Urartian by several scholars (Figure 8, no. I;
the early seventh century B.C. (Figure Io).2 Figure I2). The Urartian group shares certain charac-
The two examples, a pair, from Tell Rifa'at in teristics in common, although one notes that each at-
North Syria (Figure I I) were found in what appears 5. Hanfmann, AnatSt 6 (1956) p. 212; UrartianArt, pp. I04-
to be a late eighth- or early seventh-century B.C.con- I05; Amandry, "Chaudrons," p. 243.

IO
 FIGURE 10
Bull cauldron attachment from Gordion, 7055
BI398, from the burned Phrygian city, early vii
century B.C. University Museum, Philadelphia

FIGURE 9
Dinos from Gordion, Tumulus MM, 4789 B8o3,
VIII century B.C. One of the two dinoi found in
the tomb. University Museum, Philadelphia

,I 4
a
c_m C
-..
r.

(..
/i1x S'
1/.
I,u .
.
&,

. . .
01 2 3 4 5 (.#- -
,)

5^

FIGURE II
Bull cauldron attachment from Tell Rifa'at,
North Syria, VIII-vii century B.C. Courtesy of M.
V. Seton-Williams V

KY

FIGURE 12
Bull cauldron attachment from Toprakkale,
Urartu, VIII century B.C. Copyright British Mu-
seum

II
tachment or unit of attachments exhibits individuality. loop handle in situ (Figure 8, no. 3). The forelocks are
The examples from this group consist of a head and triangular in shape,' decorated with incisions that re-
neck joined at a right angle onto a separately-made peat the triangle several times. The bulls on the smaller
wing and tail apparatus, which is sometimes decorated dinoi (Figure 9) also have a ring at the rear, but they
with a herringbone pattern. The ears of the bull stick hold a different type of handle than that found on the
out horizontally from the head and the horns are cauldron, one that could be grasped by a single person.
spread wide apart, curving outward and then upward; The forelocks on the bulls are round, and, unlike those
often there is an engraved or raised decorated ring at on the cauldron, they are undecorated. In addition to
the base of each horn. A ruff decorated with stylized the shapes and decoration of the forelocks, the bulls
spiral curls passesaround the neck from ear to ear. (The from the cauldron and the dinoi differ in other respects
four examples from the site near Guschi have separate- as well. One of the bulls on one of the dinoi has a long
ly-made horns that do not have a ring at the base; muzzle, the other a slightly shorter one; all have long
none of these examples has a ruff.) A rectangular fore- attenuated wings and tails. The difference in propor-
lock between the horns continues over the head onto tion among the bull heads certainly implies that each
the back of the neck; it is decorated on the forehead and was manufactured in a separate one-piece mould. The
on the neck with two levels of spiral curls. There are bulls on the cauldron are more naturalistic in style, and
usually heavy eyebrows, which are sometimes decorat- they have short wings and tails. Their eyes bulge and
ed with a herringbone pattern; and two vertical are surrounded by thick swellings or ridges.
grooves down the muzzle and across the nose are found The bull attachments on the cauldron from Tumulus
on most of the examples (the bulls from Altintepe do W represent a unique and interesting type, inasmuch
not have vertical grooves and they do not have a ring as cast and beaten bronze were combined to form the
at the base of the horns). The four attachments from head.8 Moreover, the head was riveted onto the sepa-
Toprakkalehave, in addition, a hook-likemotif extend- rately-made wing and tail apparatus. In this respect
ing out from the vertical muzzle (Figure I2). one is reminded of the Urartian examples where, as
The attachments of the Urartian group never have has been noted, the head is made separately from the
a ring at the rear to hold a free-swinging handle and it wings and tail. They are unlike the latter examples,
is presumed that the attachment itself served as a however, both in style and in the fact that they have a
handle.6 Moreover, bulls of the Urartian type always round forelock and a ring behind the bull's head for the
face outward from the cauldron, toward the viewer, insertion of a free-swinging handle.
rather than into the vessel. Apparently, in all cases four The bulls on the cauldron from the burned Phrygian
bulls were placed on a cauldron. level on the city mound (Figure io) are quite small.
A second group of attachments is formed by the They do not have a ring at the rear for a handle; their
other examples found in the Near East and referred to forelocks are round. These bull attachments differ from
above. This group shares certain characteristics in the others of the group in size and because they lack a
common and, like the Urartian group, the individual rear ring, a feature unknown on any other attachment
examples or pairs exhibit individuality and differ one of this group found in the Near East.
from the other in stylistic details. In this group the All of the attachments from Gordion were applied
head of the bull and a plain, undecorated wing and
tail-more like a T-shaped plaque in some cases-are 6. Amandry, "Chaudrons," p. 247; UrartianArt, p. 112.I
cast together as one unit. In most examples there is a 7. Apparently representing a continuation of that motif from
fixed ring, cast with the rest, at the rear of the head or the III and II millennia B.C. when animals were often represented
with triangular forelocks, viz. T. Ozguc, M. Akok, "Objects from
neck for the purposeof inserting a free-swinginghandle.
Horoztepe," Belleten 2I (Ankara, I957) p. 214, figs. 10, 27; H.
Usually there is a round or triangular-shapedforelock Kosay, Les Fouilles d'Alaca Hoyiik (Ankara, I95I) pls. 70, fig. 2,
on the forehead of the bull. Only two bulls were placed 72, fig. I, 73, fig. 2.
on a cauldron. 8. AJA 64 (I960) pp. 231-232, pl. 55, fig. i , published upside
down. I have seen photographs of this attachment in the University
The bulls on the large cauldron from Tumulus MM Museum. On p. 230, "two cauldrons, each with bull attach-
at Gordion have a ring at the rear with a free-swinging ments," are mentioned; this seems to be an error.

12
to the cauldron in pairs and they face outward from the destroyed about 600 B.C.,12 it is probable that the
vessel. object was made sometime before that date, and was
The problems inherent in describing any of the pairs imported into Karmir Blur from another area.13
from Gordion as having been either locally made, and All the bull attachments from North Syria are like-
typically "Phrygian," or as having been imported from wise cast in one unit with a ring at the rear, and, like
a particular area in the Near East are evident when one those from Gordion, each has individuality in style,
considers the stylistic variety of these bull attachments, both in the manner of sculpting the head and in the
and the fact that four different types come from the representation of the forelock.
same site. A close parallel in form and proportion is to be seen
M. van Loon has recently suggested that the bull at- between the pair of attachments from Tell Rifa'at
tachments on the cauldron found in Tumulus MM were (Figure I I) and an example found at Olympia.14 Per-
locally made.9 He sees some relationship in style be- haps a cultural relationship exists between the two
tween these bulls and a lion carved in stone that was pieces, and if we conclude that the Tell Rifa'at ex-
found in the Phrygian level of the city mound.?1How- amples were indeed locally made we may then con-
ever, although the eyes of both the bronze bulls and the clude that the Olympia attachment came from North
stone lion are similar, the creatures have different Syria. It may also be of some importance to note here
types of forelocks, and the lion has more linear deco- that in addition to stylistic similarities, both attach-
ration on the eyes and head, as well as on the forelock. ments faced into the cauldron, reminding us of the
I would therefore reservejudgement at present on the well-known siren attachments that also faced into the
nature of Phrygian-style bull attachments. In this con- cauldron. These siren attachments consist of the body
text, however, it should be kept in mind that Gordion of a male or female cast together with the wing and tail
had a major bronze industry, and it would not offend apparatus; they also have rings at the rear to hold free-
the archaeological evidence from that site if one accepts swinging loop handles. These features relate them in
the possibility that all or some of the attachments were general to the bull attachments of the Near Eastern
local products."1 group under discussion, but not to the Urartian ex-
The bull attachment from Karmir Blur in Urartu amples discussed above.15A growing number of schol-
has its head and thin wings and tail cast in one unit; ars are accepting the conclusion that the siren attach-
it has a ring at the back and it faced outward from the ments were manufactured in North Syria-and not in
cauldron. In lieu of the usual type of forelock, round or Urartu, as had previously been suggested.16Since the
triangular, there is a small round depression. This at- two bull attachments from North Syrian Tell Rifa'at
tachment is closer in style and in technique of manu- faced into the cauldron, just like the North Syrian
facture to the Gordion examples, in particular to the sirens, we may consider the suggestion that the former
pair on the dinos, than to any of the others found in attachments were made locally in North Syria17; need-
Urartu and in northwest Iran. Although the attach- less to say, one cannot push this thought too far. It
ment was found in the debris of the city, which was would not necessarily follow that the bull attachments

14. For a good photographof the Olympiaexample,see Herr-

9. UrartianArt, p. 105, note i I9; see also Herrmann, Die Kessel, mann,Die Kessel,pl. 42; see also Urartian
Art,p. i06.
pp. 122, I28; he prefersa NorthSyrianoriginforthe TumulusMM 15. Oscar White Muscarella,"The Oriental Origin of Siren
bulls but acceptsthe possibilitythat the bulls on the dinoi were Cauldron Attachments," Hesperia31 (I962) p. 325.
locallymade. I6. Muscarella, Hesperia3I (I962) pp. 317 if.; Urartian
Art,pp.
Io. AJA 62 (1957) pl. 2I, fig. 4. 107 if.; Die Kessel, pp. 59 ff.; R. S. Young, "A Bronze Bowl in
I i. R. S. Young, AJA 62 (I958) p. 15I ; Oscar White Muscarel- Philadelphia," Journal of Near EasternStudies26 (I967) pp. 150-
Fibulae
la, Phrygian fromGordion (London,1967)chapteriii. 15I, note 19.
I2. For a brief discussionof the date for the destructionof I7. Note, however, that the Tell Rifa'at attachments do not
KarmirBlur see my article "A Fibula from Hasanlu,"AJA 69 have the typical herringbone decoration found on the sirens-
(I965) p. 237 and notes 34 to 36. and also on some of the Urartian bull attachments. Compare
13. Herrmann,DieKessel,p. 129,comesto the sameconclusion; Amandry's comments regarding the position of the attachments
he comparesthe attachmentto his North Syriangroup. on the cauldron, "Chaudrons," p. 247.

13
from Zincirli and Aleppo were not themselves locally The two well-known bull attachments on the caul-
made: the diversity of culture in the North Syrian dron from Cumae, now in Copenhagen, have a ring and
cities would allow for a variety in the position of the loop handle at the back and they face outward from the
bulls on the cauldron. cauldron (Figure 8, no. 2). The bulls have short wings
Tentatively, I would recognize a North Syrian and tails and a round forelock. They are differentiated
center (or centers) in addition to a tentative Phrygian from the other bulls of this group in that their wings and
center for the manufacturing of Near Eastern bull at- tails have scalloped edges and are decorated with a
tachments. herringbone pattern; they also have very short thick
necks and large decorated ridges around each eye that
overlap slightly onto the forelock.18
Another bull attachment that should be mentioned
is an example formerly in the Clausen and Brummer
FIGURE 13
collections.19It was cast in one unit with a ring at the
Silver handle found in Iraq. Copyright British
rear and it faced into the cauldron The bull has a long
Museum
neck, short and thick upright ears, and no decoration
on the head; there seems to be a round forelock on the
forehead. The wings and tail are plain, with no feather
pattern. Unfortunately the object did not come from
a controlled excavation, and hence nothing is known
about its provenience.
It should be understood from the preceding com-
I
ments that because of the stylistic variety of the
excavated attachments, one is not in a position at
present to speak dogmatically about a specific area or
city in the Near East where the examples from Cumae
and the Brummer collection may have originated; and
I would add here in this context examples from Samos
r: I 1.u1
!
r i
i. X
and Amyclae, and some examples from Olympia and
.. I the Argive Heraeum.20Surely one must think of more

i8. Herrmann, Die Kessel, pp. I22, 128, calls the Copenhagen
attachments North Syrian; van Loon, UrartianArt, p. Io6, calls
t them Cypriote;Young,AJA 62 (I958) p. i5I, note 25, says they
may be Phrygian.
19. TheCatalogueof theE. BrummerCollection,Sotheby's, London,
November 16-17, I964, pp. 66-67, no. I60; it is said to have come
from Anatolia and is "probably . .. Phrygian." Herrmann, Die
Kessel,pp. 128-129, calls it North Syrian.
20. See notes I8 and 19. I find it difficult to come to a strong
conclusion about the place of manufacture of most of the bull at-
tachments found in the Greek sanctuaries. Thus, for example, I am
not fully convinced that the bull attachments from Olympia il-
lustrated in Die Kessel, pls. 43, 45-50, 5I; those from Delphi, P.
Perdrizet, Fouilles de Delphe (Paris, I908) V, pp. 76-77, nos. 327,
328, 330-332; Syria35 (1958) pl. 5, d, pl. 6, c; and examples from
Samos, Die Kessel,pl. 52, 2, p. 129, note 46, are Near Eastern im-
ports. These attachments could very well be good Greek copies of
imported examples. Many have a head without a wing and tail ap-
paratus, or they have only a triangular plate; few, if any, have fore-
locks. Compare the comments by Herrmann, Die Kessel,pp. I24 ff.,
I28-I29), who appreciates the problem and comes to a different
conclusion than the one expressed here. I also find it difficult to

I4
 than one artistic center in the Near East where these
attachments might have been made: Phrygia and
North Syria seem to represent two of these centers but
there may have been others. I therefore suggest that a
term such as "Near Eastern" be used to describe these
attachments and others of similar type, and that
scholars refrain from assigning them specifically to
Phrygia or North Syria until more information is
available.
The only bull cauldron attachments excavated in
Iran up to the present time are those examples of the
Urartian type that were found in the northwest, near
Guschi and Alishar; no Achaemenid examples are
known.
Artists of the Achaemenid period were fond of using
the bodies of bulls and other creatures as vase handles
(Figure I 3).2 Indeed, they were fond of bulls in general
and often represented them on reliefs and in the round
as jewelry, as rhytons, and, more impressively, on
column capitals.22These Achaemenid bulls have well-
sculpted muzzles with modeled veining and carefully
delineated nostrilsand mouths. The eyes are thick, and
the brows are heavy, usually sculpted in several sec-
tions. The ears are usually set at a right angle to the up-
FIGURE 14
lifted and forward-projecting horns. In the Tehran
Addorsed bull capital from Persepolis. Iran Bas-
Museum there is a column from Persepolis which has
tan Museum, Tehran. From Ghirshman, The
an addorsed bull capital. The ears of both bulls are
Arts of Ancient Iran (New York, I964)
exhibited projecting forward below the horns (Figure
14). The museum authorities have kindly informed me
that the ears have been restored in modern times. Be-
cause of this fact one cannot be certain that they have

arrive at a definite conclusion about the example from Idalion, would be a significant fact in any discussion of oriental influences
Catling, CyprioteBronzework,pl. 2i, e; an example from Delphi, on Greek culture; see Amandry, Syria 35 (1958) p. 78; Die Kessel,
FdD, V, p. 79, no. 329, pl. I4, 2; and an example from Argos, C. p. 128; UrartianArt, p. io6. For a different type of animal handle
Waldstein, The ArgiveHeraeum(Cambridge, Mass., 1905) II, pl. in Greece, see N. R. Oakeshott, "Horned-head Vase Handles,"
75, no. 25. However, I would suggest that the attachments from Journalof HellenicStudies86 (I966) pp. I I4 ff.
Amyclae (Figure 7); one from Samos, Griech.Griefenkessel, pl. 6o, 2 1. P. Amandry, "Toreutique Achemenide," Antike Kunst
3; one from Olympia, Die Kessel,pl. 42; and one from Argos, Argive (I959) pp. 38 ff.; E. F. Schmidt, Persepolis,I (Chicago, 1953) pl.
Heraeum,II, pl. 75, no. 23 (Herrmann, Die Kessel,p. 129, Amandry, 29; II (Chicago, 1957) pl. 70, D, F; R. Ghirshman, 7he Arts of
"Chaudrons," p. 249, Kunze, ReineckeFestschrift,p. 98, agree that Ancient Iran (New York, I964) p. I74, fig. 220, p. 176, fig. 222.
this latter piece is an import) are genuine imported pieces from The use of animals or animal heads as handles is documented in the
the Near East. In any event, whether a given attachment is Greek ninth century at Hasanlu, and among Luristan bronze vessels. The
or Near Eastern in origin of manufacture is an academic question: Achaemenid examples continue this tradition.
what is established in either case is that the Greeks came in contact 22. Persepolis,I, pls. I9, 20, 45, 62, etc.; The Arts of AncientIran,
with and used oriental objects in the eighth-seventh centuries figs. I86, 192, 263-266, 28I, 286, 448: found near Sidon, not at
B.C. Note that there does not seem to be a single bull attachment in Bustanesh-Sheikh; see comments by M.-L. Buhl, "Anfang, Ver-
the Greek world that belongs to the Urartian group. If this state- breitung u. Dauer der phoenikischen anthropieden Steinsarko-
ment holds up against future examination of the bull attachments phage," Acta Archaeologica35 (I964) p. 78; and also in Buhl, pp.
by classical scholars-a deed which is very necessary given the 72 ff., figs. I2 A, B, 14 A, B, I5.
inadequate publication and reproduction of many examples-it

I5
 FIGURES 15, I6
Griffin attachment from Iran. Iran Bastan Museum, Tehran

been placed in their original position.23It is therefore also in early Achaemenid art. The head of the silver
suggested that one may not make use of the position of bull handle in the British Museum (Figure I3), dated
the ears on the Tehran bulls as a parallel for the ear by Jacobsthal and Amandry to the first half of the
position on our attachments. fifth century B.C.,24 but perhaps actually a little earlier,
The forelock of Achaemenid bulls is usually decorat- has inward-curving horns, ears projecting forward
ed with spiral curls and is rounded at the lower border. under the horns, a hatched ruff, and a round forelock
The chest is also decorated with spiral curls, and so is with decoration similar to that on the forelock and
the ruff that connects the mouth and the ear on each mane of our bulls; its wings are also decorated with a
side. The spiral-curl forelock and ruff, the heavy eyes plain feather pattern.
and brows, and the veining of the muzzle remind us Finally, we would call attention to some features on
of the earlier Urartian bulls found on the attachments our bulls that remind us of the Urartian bronze bull
discussed above, and we may conclude that there is attachments: a forelock decorated in zones, a decorat-
some Urartian influence to be seen here. ed ruff at the side of the head, and linear muzzle deco-
One also notes some general parallels between these ration.
Achaemenid bull heads and our bronze bulls: the In the Tehran Museum there is a bronze cauldron
round forelock, stylized chest hair, muzzle decoration, attachment in the form of a winged griffin (Figures I5,
and the ruff connecting the mouth and ears. Yet there i6).25 The head and upper part of the griffin is cast in
are differences in the position of the ears, the curve of one piece with the wings and tail, and with the ring for
the horns, and in the more elaborate stylization of the holding a free-swinging handle which is now missing.
hair decoration to be seen on the Archaemenid bulls The wings and tail are decorated with a plain feather
when compared to our bronze examples. These latter pattern and there is a hatched area on the chest that
features might have some bearing on chronology, ap- apparently represents hair. A characteristic griffin-
parently suggesting an earlier stage for the bronze at- knob exists at the crown of the head from which a crest
tachments. extends down to the middle of the back; the mouth is
Some other parallels for the bull heads of our attach- closed. The griffin faced into the cauldron. This latter
ments exist both in pre-Achaemenid and apparently feature, and the plain feather pattern on the wings and

23. I wish to thank Dr. Neghaban, Mr. Safaraz, and Mr. eitherprovincialAchaemenidor post-Achaemenidin date, where
Piramoon of Tehran for their cooperation in discussing the matter the earswere placedforwardunderthe horns.
with me. Mr. Piramoon is quite certain that the ears are correctly 24. "ToreutiqueAchemenide,"pp. 47-48.
restored. See Acta Archaeologica35 (i964) pp. 72 ff., figs. 12 A and 25. I wish to thankDr. Neghabanfor sendingme photographs
B for a bull column, the one from near Sidon referred to in note 22, of this attachment.
tail, the stylized hatched chest hair, the general pro- undecorated-and also in the manner in which the
portions, the technique of manufacture, as well as the heads and neck were sculpted. These differences pre-
fact that the griffin was found in Iran, relate this at- vent not only a strong conclusion about a specific
tachment to those in the Metropolitan Museum and cultural and stylistic relationship of each of these at-
the Schimmel collection. tachments to one another, but also a conclusion about
The specific provenience in Iran of this griffin is not a direct link between any given one of the examples and
known, but Ghirshman has suggested that it came from ours. In other words, we may conclude either that the
Luristan and dated it to the eighth-seventh centuries Iranian artisans who manufactured our attachments
B.C.26Actually, there is no proof for a Luristan proveni- were generally influenced by various bull attachments
ence, nor is the griffin related stylistically to typical and cauldronsfrom several areas with which they came
"Luristan" bronzes. in contact, or that they were influenced by attachments
A bronze eagle attachment (there is no evidence for and cauldrons from one particular source that is at
calling it a griffin) found many years ago on the present unknown to us.
Acropolis at Athens is closely paralleled by the Tehran The parallels in style that, I believe, exist between
griffin.27 The eagle has all its components cast to- our bulls and the heads of the bulls on the handle in the
gether in one unit, including the ring (which rests on a British Museum (Figure 13) seem to suggest that both
plinth) for a separate free-swinging handle. Moreover, may have been manufactured somewhere in western
the bird faced into the cauldron. The attachment was Iran within a relatively short period of time. At the
apparently imported from the Near East (or else it is a same time the stylistic parallels that exist with the
good local copy!), but the style is not clear enough to Urartian bull heads (Figure I2) seem to suggest a date
warrant any statement about a specific provenience. not too far removed from the time when the latter were
Surely one need not call the eagle attachment "Irani- made. It was also suggested that the parallels existing
an" simply because of the Iranian provenience of the with the Achaemenid bull heads were not close enough
Tehran griffin; I prefer to call it simply a Near Eastern to conclude that our attachments are contemporary,
attachment (see below). but rather to suggestan earlierdate. All these comments
We are now in a position to present some conclusions add up to a conclusion that our attachments were made
concerning the chronological and historical position of sometime between the late eighth and the second half of
the attachments in the Metropolitan Museum and the the sixth centuries B.C. It is plausible, therefore, to
Schimmel collection. When we compare them to the state that our attachments were made somewhere in
bull attachments from the various areas in the Near western Iran in the seventh century B.C.,perhaps even
East it will be seen that there is no relationship with the as late as the early sixth century B.C.
Urartian group. On the other hand there is a definite If this dating is generally correct, the attachments
relationship with the other examples cited in this study, would be among the latest in the series of bull attach-
the examples I call Near Eastern. However, I have ments discussed in this study. I would also venture to
stressed that among each of the pairs or individual suggest that Ghirshman'sdating of the griffinin Tehran
pieces within this group, even with those found within to the eighth-seventh centuries be accepted, with the
one cultural area, there are notable differences. These provision that the seventh century B.C. may be more
are expressed in the form of decorative detail-some likely.
face into the ca'uldron,others face outward; some have A date in the late seventh century B.C. for the attach-
round, others have triangular forelocks; some have a ments would mean that they were manufactured dur-
plain feather pattern on the wings and tail, others are ing the time that the Medes were in political control of
26. The Arts of AncientIran, pp. 80, 295, fig. 353, also p. 432;
western Iran. This naturally raises the possibility that
there is no evidence to support the suggestion that the piece was of the attachments represent examples of Median art.
"Urartian workmanship." Such a conclusion is cautiously stated as an "intelligent
27. A. de Ridder, BronzesTrouvessur l'Acropoled'Athenes(Paris,
I896) p. 197, no. 538, fig. 177; for a better photograph now see
guess," for we have no archaeological (i.e., scientifically
Die Kessel,pp. 70, 136, pl. 58; Herrmann suggests that the attach- excavated) material that we can claim as examples of
ment is Assyrian. Median art. Our knowledge of this art is at present

I7
based on archaeological inference, and the evidence this is indeed viable, one must continuously be aware
exists only in the form of isolated objects gathered to- of the limitations of the methods employed.28
gether by art historians or archaeologists, such, for The nature of Median art will become better under-
example, as presented in this study. Objects have been stood only from a study of objects found in situ by
called "Median" on the basis of stylistic analysis and archaeologists;it cannot be understoodif one is limited
historical conclusions, as I have done above, and while to a study of non-excavated material.29

28. H. J. Kantor, "A Gold Applique from Ziwiye," JNES 19 different proportions, and only one has a fixed ring, in the form of
(1960) pp. 13-14; R. D. Barnett, "Median Art," IranicaAntiqua2 a long spool, at the back of the neck. The other attachment is in a
(I962) pp. 77 ff.; R. Ghirshman, "Le tresor de l'Oxus, les bronzes different style: thin wing and tail apparatus, and outward-curving
du Luristan et l'art mede," Vorderasiatische Archaeologie(Moortgat horns. I cannot tell from the photograph if there is a forelock.There
Festschrift) (Berlin, I964) pp. 88 ff.; UrartianArt, pp. 178 ff. are no ears present, and there is no ring for a handle. It is obvious
29. After this study had been completed I was shown photo- that these attachments are not like the Urartian examples described
graphs of some bronze objects, which allegedly came from the Lake above. Certain possible conclusions follow from a study of this
Van area in eastern Turkey. The objects include fragments of a group: i) since they are objects belonging to a dealer, one may
boss or shield, fragments of a helmet, and a fragment of a quiver. not accept without reservations the claim that they form a single
The human and animal decoration on these objects does seem to cache; 2) the group does represent a single find from Urartu, but
be Urartian. the bull attachments were imported and not locally made (like
Among the objects there is a pair of goat attachments and a pair the example from Karmir Blur, above); or 3) the attachments
of ibex attachments. In each case the whole animal is represented were indeed made in Urartu along with the other objects. If the
and the front and rear legs rest on a single plinth. Apparently each third conclusion is correct, then it would seem that the ideas
pair was attached to a cauldron. These animals are similar to some expressed in this study-that there is a division between Urartian
attachments found in Greece, viz. Die Kessel,pl. 63, Kunze, Reinecke and Near Eastern bull attachments, based on stylistic and technical
Festschrift,pl. I8, i, 2, 4, and OlympiaBericht,V (Berlin, I956) p. 8i, differences-is not valid. And therefore one is left with some con-
note I I; "Chaudrons," pI. 29, 2. In addition to these objects the fusion both about the nature of Urartian bull attachments and the
cache (?) contained three winged bull attachments, all of which origin or place of manufacture of those examples found in the
have the head and the wing and tail apparatus cast in one unit; the Aegean and the Near East. The problem rests until archaeologists
latter in all three cases is plain and undecorated. The bulls faced excavate similar bulls in good contexts or, luckily, find a mould;
outward from the cauldron. Two of the heads seem to be exactly one cannot solve the problem with objects from the antiquities
the same in all details: round forelock ending in a raised ridge, market. However, I believe the second possibility best explains the
forward-projecting ears and horns, the latter of which are short, situation-that the bull attachments were imported into Urartu.
and heavy eyes. Yet they differ in that their wings and tails are of
 Portrait Bust of a Young Lady
of the Time of Justinian

ELISABETH ALFOLDI-ROSENBAUM
AssistantProfessorof Fine Art, Universityof Toronto

THE METROPOLITANMuseum has recently acquired of the bonnet has flaked off here and there. There are
the marble bust of a young lady (Figures I-5, 8, o) some incrustations on parts of the garment, the hand,
said to originate in the region of Constantinople.1The the neck, and the head, and there are also a few root
bust is made of very fine-grained white marble, the marks. The entire surface has been finely polished,
texture closely resembling that of a variety of marble giving the marble an alabaster-like sheen. Even the
found in several quarries in the neighborhood of top of the scroll, which the lady is holding, the bonnet,
Dokimion in Phrygia.2 Its total height is 53.0 cm. (20% and the garment at the back have this polished finish.
in.). The head measures from chin to crown 22.0 cm. Only around the bottom edge of the bust and on the
(8% in.), and the face (from chin to hairline) is I5.5 underside of the bonnet at the back do some rasp marks
cm. (6%8in.) high. The width of the bust at the shoul- appear.
ders is 27.5 cm. (Io0'e in.), that of the head at the level The bust is cut at the right side so that the right
of the eyes (including the hair) is I8.o cm. (7y^ in.). shoulder and the entire right arm are missing. At the
Head and bust were carved originally from one block bottom, it is cut in line with the lower end of the scroll.
of marble. When found, the head was broken diagonal- Both these cuts were made with a saw, so they cannot
ly across the lower part of the face, through the mouth. be accidental breaks. At the back, the bust is hollowed
The two sections have been joined to make a perfect out, with a shallow protuberance left in the middle
fit, and only a few missing chips along the break have toward the lower edge. The surface of the back, both
been filled in. The bridge and tip of the nose are miss- of the hollowed part and of the framing edge, has been
ing. Some insignificant chips are missing from various treated with a fine chisel. In addition, there are marks
parts of the head, neck, and drapery, and the surface of a coarser tool on the bottom edge. On the underside,

i. I am indebted to Mr. William H. Forsyth, Research Curator photographs of comparative material, especially to Dr. H. Sichter-
in Charge of the Medieval Department and The Cloisters for mann of the German Archaeological Institute in Rome.
entrusting me with the publication of the piece. He gave me all 2. Michael Ballance (Eton College) kindly sent me a sample
available information and all facilities for an examination of the from one of these quarries, and the Metropolitan Museum had
original sculpture, and he had the photographs reproduced here this analyzed together with a sample from the bust. The result of
made by the Museum's photographer. See also his article "Byzan- the analysis is the certainty that the two samples do not come from
tine Bust of a Woman," BurlingtonMagazine 109 (I967) pp. 304- the same quarry. This does, however, not exclude the possibility
306, figs. 55, 56. I should also like to express my thanks to the that the bust was made of marble from one of the other quarries in
various colleagues and photographic archives that contributed the the neighborhood.

I9

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve, and extend access to
Metropolitan Museum Journal ®
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'

A. x
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FIGURE I i?;t$: "'

Portrait bust of a
young lady. The -z..
Metropolitan Mu- I
seum of Art,
Cloisters Fund,
66.45 k .
.'; A
?;*

;' r

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ots:

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FIGURES 2-5
Views of the
Metropolitan Mu-
seum's portrait bust

21
 The drapery is arranged in softly modeled folds, some
of which are gently curved. Only here and there a
harder line appears (for instance, on one of the V-folds
below the neckline). In her right hand, which has thin,
elegant fingers, the lady holds a book scroll. On her
head, which rises from a long, slender neck, she wears
a scarf of a thin silk-like material that covers her entire
hair like a bonnet, leaving only the earlobes showing.
The ends of the scarf are wound around the head like
a wreath, in a tightly twisted roll, and disappear behind
the ears; they were obviously tied and tucked under at
the back. In the center above the forehead the scarf is
held by a clip to prevent it from slipping onto the fore-
head. We can see outlined beneath the scarf two heavy
plaits of her coiffure which were pulled up from the
nape of the neck to the crown of the head, where they
were probably turned under. Between them is a very
shallow indentation. In front, the hair forms a thickish
roll that frames the forehead in a flat triangle. The
long, oval face shows extremely delicate modeling. The
parts below the eyes, around the nostrils, and below
-~1 p 'it -4a . L
the mouth should be noted in particular. The eyes with
their gently curved lids are set under almost straight
brows. The pupils are rendered by large circular
FIGURE 6 cavities (i cm. [%in.] in diameter), and the irises have
Bust of a woman from a sarcophagus in Tarrago- not been indicated. In contrast to the fine modeling of
na. From A. Garcia y Bellido, EsculturasRomanas the cheeks, the lower lip, and the chin, the parting of
de Espanay Portugal,no. 274, pl. 227 the lips is indicated only by a rather schematized line.
The head of the lady is slightly turned to the right,
a little behind the lower end of the scroll, is a deep but her eyes seem to look straight ahead at the beholder
circular hole (more than 3 cm. [i %/6in.] deep) with the and not at whoever once may have been to her right.
remains of a metal pin still in position. The expression is largely centered on the eyes, and yet
The bust cannot have had its present shape original- they are not overlarge or staring and do not convey
ly. First of all, there must have been a foot. As it is now, any otherworldly quality. The head is distinguished
we must assume that after the surviving part was sawn by the tenderness of its features, the sweetness of its
off it was fixed to some kind of base by means of a expression,and by its immensely human quality, which
dowel. When and why the right arm and shoulder has an immediate appeal.
were sawn off is difficult to conjecture: we will have to
return to this question when we have examined the
FIGURES 7, 9
sculpture in more detail. Portrait head of Theodora. Castello Sforzesco,
The bust is the portrait of a young lady. She wears
Milan (photo: German Archaeological Institute,
a tunic3 and a mantle that is draped over the greater
Rome)
part of her body and envelops the left arm completely.
FIGURES 8, I0
Details of the Metropolitan Museum's portrait
3. It is possible that the tunic was a long-sleeved one, but the
edge of a garment around the wrist could also belong to the mantle. bust

22
 p -

,t

>6

j
A
4. '4'
*

(it: I thu1

23
 FIGURES II, 12
Portrait head of Ariadne. Lateran, Rome (photo: German Archaeological Institute, Rome)

FIGURES 13, I4
Portrait head of Ariadne. Musee du Louvre

24
 The scroll she holds identifies her as a lady of intel- This scroll is the only insigne displayed by the young
lectual ambitions: in general, men of learning are lady, and it is not one that would give us any indication
represented holding book scrolls, but there are also about the date or the identity of the portrait. Stylistical-
many examples of women with this attribute. It seems ly, however, it appears that the bust is comparable, in
that originally it belonged to one of the Muses, varying degrees, only to a group of portraits of early
Polyhymnia,4 but was taken over by a large number of Byzantine empresses.
women, mainly on sarcophagi, to denote their literary This group consists of three heads in the Lateran
leanings.5 Some of the sarcophagi with a woman hold- (Figures i I, I2), the Palazzo dei Conservatori (Figures
ing a scroll also show "philosopher" types of men, who 15, I6), and the Louvre (Figures 13, I4), respectively,
are depicted as teaching them; and there cannot be which in all probability portray Ariadne, the wife first
much doubt that the scroll as such is simply a "badge"
to denote a claim to intellectual activities. Nearly 4. See examples on sarcophagi, e.g. M. Wegner, Musensarko-
phage, nos. 183, 2o8, 23I, pls. 33 a, 34, 36.
always, when women on sarcophagi are shown holding 5. Examples are too numerous to be listed in full here. Most of
scrolls, they have them in their left hands (Figure 6), them are on sarcophagi. Cf., for instance, Wegner, Musensarko-
putting the fingers of their right hands on the tops of phage, no. 35 (pl. I5i a), no. Ii6 (pl. 71), no. I33 (pl. 6o), no.
the scrolls. Our lady holds her scroll in her right hand, I35 (pl. 55 a); W. Amelung, Die Sculpturendes Vaticanischen Mu-
seums,I (Berlin, I903) Giardino della Pigna Ost IX, no. 65, pl. 96;
the left arm not being rendered at all. How the scroll A. Garcia y Bellido, EsculturasRomanasdeEspafnayPortugal(Madrid,
is held does not seem particularly significant, and we 1949) no. 274, pls. 226, 227. Further references will be found in
have one example of royalty represented with this at- Th. Birt, Die Buchrollein der Kunst (Leipzig, 1907) pp. 98, 105 ff.
6. W. Wroth, Catalogueof theImperialByzantineCoinsin theBritish
tribute: a coin of Justin II with his wife Sophia shows Museum,I (London, I908) Justin II, no. 26, pl. I I.6; Bellinger,
both of them holding an upright scroll.6 DumbartonOaks,Justin II, no. I9.

*,.

1/a, '-I-
f n' j. I
:1v .
w - . ,^
' -
. - --
v J

.. .-' %;,W
_pi,~O

"
~.lv'.;iC

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FIGURES 15, I6
Portrait head ofAriadne. Palazzo dei Conservatori, Rome (photo: German Archaeological Institute, Rome)

25
 FIGURES 17, I8
Bronze portrait head of Euphemia, from Balajnac. National Museum, Nis

of Zenon, and, from 49I, of Anastasius (she died in (Figures 7, 9), most probably a portrait of Theodora,
515) ;7 a bronze head, possibly of the empress Euphe- the wife of Justinian
I.9 To these portraits in the round
mia, wife of Justin I, found recently in Balajnac near may be added a number of ivory carvings on Consular
Nis in Yugoslavia (Figures I7, I8) ;8 and the marble diptychs, showing portraits in medallions on a very
head of an empress in the Castello Sforzesco in Milan small scale of Ariadne (Figure i9), loAmalasunta, 11and

7. R. Delbrueck, Mitteilungendes deutschenarchdologischen Insti- them are quoted in the article by K. Wessel, cited above. Some
tuts, RomischeAbteilung28 (19I3) no. 2, pp. 3I8 ff., fig. 5, pls. I I- additional bibliography may be found in M. Bonicatti, Studi di
13 (Lateran); no. 3, pp. 323-324, pls. I4, 15 (Palazzo dei Conser- storiadell'artesulla Tardaantichitae sull'Alto Medioevo(Rome, n.d.)
vatori); no. 4, pp. 324 iff., pls. i6, I7 (Louvre). K. Wessel, VIII pp. 198 ff. (fig. 255). See also H. v. Heintze, R6mischePortrat-Plastik
Corsi di culturasull'arteravennatee bizantina (I961) pp. 357 ff.; K. aus siebenJahrhunderten (Stuttgart, I96I) pp. i8, 20, pl. 48.
Wessel, Jahrbuchdes deutschenarchdologischen Instituts77 (I962) pp. io. In the Diptychs of Clementinus in Liverpool, Delbrueck,
246-247. Illustrations especially of the Louvre head are also found Consulardiptychen, no. 16, Volbach, Elfenbeinarbeiten, no. 15; Del-
in general works, e.g., A. Grabar, L'age d'or de Justinien (Paris, brueck, RM 28 (1913) p. 339, fig. I3a; of Anthemius, formerly
I966) p. 226, fig. 253. Further bibliography will be found in the Limoges, Delbrueck, Consulardiptychen, no. I 7, Volbach, Elfenbein-
two articles by K. Wessel. arbeiten,no. i6, Delbrueck, RM 28 (1913) p. 339, fig. 13b; of
8. D. Srejovi6 and A. Simovic, "Portrait d'une imperatrice Anastasius, Berlin, Delbrueck, Consulardiptychen, no. 20, Volbach,
Byzantine de Balajnac," Starinarn.s. 9-io (I958-I959) pp. 77 ff., Elfenbeinarbeiten,no. I7; London, Victoria & Albert Museum,
French summary pp. 86-87; K. Wessel, JdI 77 (I962) pp. 247- Delbrueck, Consulardiptychen, no. 20, Volbach, Elfenbeinarbeiten,no.
248. i8; Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale, Delbrueck, Consulardiptychen,
9. R. Delbrueck, RM 28 (1913) no. I, pp. 3 0 ff., figs. i a, no. 21, Volbach, Elfenbeinarbeiten,no. 21; Verona, Delbrueck,
i b, 4, pls. 9, 10; K. Wessel,JdI 77 (I962) pp. 240 ff., figs. I, 2, Consulardiptychen, no. 9; Delbrueck RM 28 (1913) pp. 339-340,
with previous bibliography. The head has been illustrated in figs. I 3c-e.
several general works, all of which we cannot list here. Some of Ii. Diptych of Orestes, London, Victoria & Albert Museum,

26
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

Theodora (Figure 20) ;12 the ivory panels in Florence

(Figure 21) and Vienna, showing the full figure of an
empress, probably again Ariadne, once standing, once
X...?wI?. I ......
seated ;13 and finally the mosaic portrait of Theodora
* s;- *"- - o* * y--_s
in San Vitale in Ravenna (Figure 24).14
The imperial character of all these portraits is as-
1.I
sured by their headdress. This consists of a scarf of thin
material covering the hair entirely,15 and in most cases ,1I
A;i a i+l s>.t
t;;F1,i .....,..
a bonnet made of stiffer material, to which a more or
less elaborate crown is attached. Ariadne in the Palazzo .,

dei Conservatori wears only the scarf to which the . _ .,

diadem is fitted, and the same appears to be the case FIGURE 19

with the bronze head from Balajnac.16 The portraits in Ivory Consular diptych of Clementinus, detail of
the left wing. Liverpool Museum (photo: Girau-
no.
no. 32, Volbach, Elfenbeinarbeiten,
Delbrueck, Consulardiptychen,
don)
31, Delbrueck, RM 28 (1913) p. 341, fig. I3g. On the attempts to
identify the marble portraits of Ariadne and the two ivory por-
traits cited below in note 13 with Amalasunta, see S. Fuchs, Kunst
der Ostgotenzeit(Berlin, 1944) pp. 66 ff.; see also K. Wessel, JdI 77 I . . - .. '"- ---w
.
"
'
i
"- . . .
(I962) p. 244, note 27. I --.- -'- -' _
_._-
I2. Diptych of Justinus (540), Delbrueck, Consulardiptychen, no ?L I ?I I ? src-

34, Volbach, Elfenbeinarbeiten, no. 33, Delbrueck, RM 28 (I913)

p. 341, fig. I3h, K. Wessel, JdI 77 (1962) p. 254, fig. 9a.
13. Delbrueck, Consulardiptychen, nos. 51, 52, Volbach, Elfenbein-
arbeiten,nos. 5I, 52; Delbrueck, RM 28 (1913) p. 34I, figs. I4,
i6 (here still as Theodora, as against his later view in Consulardip-
tychen,text, pp. 201 ff., especially p. 204), Wessel, JdI 77 (1962)
pp. 250-251, figs. 5a, b. Of other illustrations of these ivories I
should like to refer only to the excellent reproduction of a detail
of the Florence panel in A. Grabar, L'age d'or de Justinien (Paris,
i966) fig. 318 (opposite p. 277).
14. No detailed bibliography of this famous work is necessary.
For discussions on the portrait value of this mosaic and on the FIGURE 20
headdress, see the works quoted in notes 7-I 3. See also G. Roden- Ivory Consular diptych of Justinus, detail of the
waldt, JdI 59-60 (1944-1945) pp. 96 ff. Of the numerous color
right wing. Berlin Museum
reproductions of the panel I should like to mention in particular
those in A. Grabar, L'aged'orde Justinien(Paris, I 966) figs. I 72, I 73.
x5. The marble portraits of Ariadne show two very stylized
small locks emerging from under the scarf in the center of the fore-
head, in addition to which the heads in the Lateran and in the
Louvre have some ornamental-looking strands of hair at the nape
of the neck.
i6. The most detailed and, in my opinion, the most accurate
description of the headdresses of these women is given by Del-
brueck in his article in RM 28 (1913). He distinguishes clearly
between the scarf of thin material and the bonnet of stiffer stuff.
FIGURE 2I
Wessel, in his discussion in JdI 77 (1962) does not make this
distinction but speaks generally of a "Kronhaube." In particular, , ~w ~Portraitof Ariadne,
he seems to think that the front hair of Theodora in the Milan head wP ~r ~~detail
of an ivory
is uncovered, which would mean that the piece of cloth covering i :panel. Museo
the hair at the back and over the ears is an extension of the bonnet. , , :" ~
This interpretation would give the bonnet a very peculiar shape -"---_ -^ w Archeologico,
and would also make the rendering of the front hair very difficult y T'S^^S^ ^^ <tr Florence
(photo:
to explain. A comparison between the relevant details of the new
German Archaeo-
Metropolitan head and the Milan one seems to make it fairly
certain that Delbrueck's distinction between the scarf and the .;_ L^i^W
, > logical Institute,
bonnet in the Milan headdress is correct. Wessel (p. 252) also Rome)

27
the round apart from the Milan one have the earlobes of the fifth century), Juliana Anicia in the Vienna
uncovered. The coiffure, as outlined under the scarf Dioscorides manuscript2l (beginning of the sixth cen-
and bonnet, shows the front hair forming a thickish tury), and various representations on mosaics. Whereas
roll, smooth in most cases, but sectioned, as if arranged this kind of headdress seems to be the exception in
in very stiff narrow waves, on the Milan head, and the earlier centuries, it appears to become the rule in the
mass of the hair gathered in the nape of the neck and sixth century, where it is worn, for example, by the
taken up to the crown: divided in two parts, probably ladies of Theodora's court in the mosaic in San Vitale
plaits, in the Lateran and the Louvre Ariadne and the (Figure 24), by female saints in the archepiscopal chap-
Milan Theodora, whereas no such division can be seen el in Ravenna, by the Virgin in the apse mosaic in
in the Ariadne in the Palazzo dei Conservatori and the Parenzo, and on a number of ivory book covers.22 The
"Euphemia." closest parallel to the type of scarf worn by our young
The identification of the portraits of Ariadne and lady appears, however, on a portrait head in Toulouse
Theodora was established in a brilliant article by (Figures 22, 25-28), which, to judge from the photo-
Richard Delbrueck in I9I3.17 His results have, in the graphs at my disposal, is hardly later than the time
main points, been accepted by K. Wessel, who re- around 400.23 Even the way the scarf is gathered in the
examined the problems involved in two recent studies, 18 center above the forehead seems to be similar. But in
and have also been adopted by most other scholars who spite of this striking similarity of the headdress, the two
have had occasion to refer to these portraits in one or portraits are in general style and in the treatment of
another context. 19The date assigned to the head from facial details, such as the eyes, so different from each
Balajnac by D. Srejovic and A. Simovic seems to be other that they cannot be contemporary.
the only possible one, and hence their identification The headdress, then, taken in isolation, does not
will also have to be accepted. The problems arising lead to a closer dating of our portrait. The same is true
from the shape of the crowns worn by these empresses of the coiffure, which is a variant of one worn by women
have no bearing on our present argument, and their from the time of Constantine onward right into the
identification is relevant only so far as it affects sixth century at least.24 Thus, in order to substantiate
chronology. our assertion that the Metropolitan portrait bust is
A bonnet or scarf covering the entire hair without a contemporary with the portraits of sixth-century
diadem or crown is not part of imperial costume but empresses listed above, we have to examine other
occurs on portraits of other women, both in the sixth details.
century and earlier. Delbrueck has referred to examples The form of the pupils of the eyes is very similar to
such as Serena on the diptych in Monza20 (beginning that seen in the three marble portraits of Ariadne:

statesthatTheodora'shairon themosaicin SanVitaleis uncovered (JdI, p. 252), whereas he virtually retained Delbrueck's date of the
in frontand at the back (what he meansmustbe "at the sides"): marble head in Milan (RM 28 [1913] p. 348: preferably 538;
an examinationof severalcolor reproductionssuggeststhat Del- Wessel, p. 255: about 540). All the same, these articles have real
brueck's description of the headdress (p. 344) is the correct one, merit, because they disprove the various erroneous theories set up
and that here,too, we havea scarfcoveringthe entirehairand, in in the nearly fifty years that had elapsed since Delbrueck's basic
addition,a bonnetover the top of the head. treatment of the subject.
17. RM 28 (1913) pp. 310 if. The results of this study seem to 19. See the bibliography in the articles by K. Wessel cited in
be valid still today exceptfor the identificationof the empressin note 18, and in the relevant chapter of M. Bonicatti's book, quoted
the ivoriesin Florenceand Vienna (see above, note 13) as Theo- in note 9.
dora,a view whichhe correctedhimselfin his laterstandardwork 20. Delbrueck, RM 28 (1913) p. 335, fig. I i; Consulardiptychen,
on the Consular diptychs (Consulardiptychen, nos. 51-52, text, pp. no. 63, Volbach, Elfenbeinarbeiten, no. 63.
201 ff., especially p. 204). 21. Delbrueck, RM 28 (1913) pp. 337-338, fig. 12; P. Buberl,
i8. VIII Corsidi culturasull'arte ravennatee bizantina(196I) pp. JdI 51 (1936) pp. 121 ff., fig. I2; id.,Diebyzantinischen
Handschriften
351 if.; JdI 77 (I962) pp. 240 ff. These articles resulted only in (Beschreibendes Verzeichnis der illuminierten Handschriften in
somemodificationof detail, but basicallyreconfirmedDelbrueck's Osterreich, N.F. IV, pt. IV, I) p. 27, pl. 5.
originalviews. Some of these modificationsdo not seem to me to 22. To cite only one of several examples: the diptych in Berlin,
be improvements,for instance,when he would like to date the Volbach, Elfenbeinarbeiten, no. I37, pl. 42.
model of the portraitof Theodorain San Vitale (on the strength 23. See Appendix, pp. 35 ff.
of the developmentof the formof the "Kronhaube")around527 24. Cf. Delbrueck, RM 28 (1913) pp. 326 if.

28
 which are found in both portraits, occur also in the
Milan head, which has, however, fuller lips. Similar in
all five heads is the modeling around the mouth and in
particular the groove separating the lower lip from the
chin. The area surrounding the eyes is modeled with
much greater delicacy on our present portrait than on
any of the imperial ones, but we may point to the
rather deep groove that outlines the upper lid against
the flesh fold above, to be noticed in all five heads.
These details link the Metropolitan lady with the
marble portraits of Ariadne and Theodora. But the
modeling of the facial details and the delicate surface
treatment are comparable only to the Milan Theodora.
We should notice in particular the rendering of the
FIGURE 22
faint depressions leading from the nostrils toward the
Detail from a portrait head of a woman. Musee
corners of the mouth; the swellings and depressions
St.-Raymond, Toulouse (photo: Michel La- below the eyes; the area of the chin with the slight
brousse) swelling on the underside; and the play of light and
shade on the surface,which gives life to both these faces.
large circular hollows, without a surrounding incised Furthermore, only in these two heads is the material of
line. In the case of the Ariadne portraits, the hollows the scarf realistically rendered, as we can see especially
are deeper, and they were certainly originally inlaid on the part where it is tautly drawn over the heavy hair
with glass paste or a similar substance.25No trace of an behind the ears. Compared with the Milan and the
adhesive is visible on the eyes of the Metropolitan lady, Metropolitan heads the portraits of Ariadne appear
and my general impression is that the shadows created like lifelessmasks,summary and coarse in the execution
by these hollows were sufficient to evoke the illusion of of detail.
irises and pupils, without the aid of any filling. The But there are also marked differences between the
diameter and the depth of the hollows are comparable two sculptures. The Milan head portrays a mature
to the pupils of the Milan Theodora, which have, how- woman displaying the signs of approaching old age,
ever, a little wedge on the upper side to denote the noticeable above all in the slightly hollow cheeks and
highlight, and which are furthermoresurroundedby an the heavy bags below the eyes. The Metropolitan bust,
incised line indicating the iris. This latter form of pupils on the other hand, is the portrait of a young woman
and irises occurs frequently already on portraits with full cheeks and the fresh and clear complexion of
throughout the fourth century and occasionally even youth. But it is not only this difference in age that
earlier, whereas the form of the pupils seen in the causes the contrast between the two portraits. The
Ariadne heads appears in nearly all of the few portraits Metropolitan bust is the portrayal of a young woman
in the round datable with any reasonable degree of not encumbered with any burden of rank or office,
certainty to the sixth century or the end of the fifth.26 showing, in its freshnessof concept and natural render-
The mouth of the Metropolitan lady, with its lips ing of detail, hardly a trace of the stylization that
firmly pressed together, may be compared to the characterizes late Roman and early Byzantine por-
mouth of Ariadne, especially in the Louvre version. traiture. Both the sweet physical beauty and the ap-
The triangular depressionsat the cornersof the mouth, pealing earnestness of the sitter's mind have been

25. Delbrueck, RM 28 (1913) p. 323, describes traces of a whit( baum, Romanand Early PortraitSculpturein Asia Minor (London,
adhesive in the cavity in the right eye of the head in the Palazzo I966) nos. I98 (pl. I85, I-2), 200 (pl. I86, 3), and 202 (pl. I86,
dei Conservatori. 4-5); and the portraits probably of Leon I, father of Ariadne, V.
Poulsen, MeddelelserfraNy CarlsbergGlyptotek13 (I956) pp. 41 if.,
26. See, e.g., the portraits from Ephesus, J. Inan and E. Rosen- Byzantion25-27 (I955-I957) pp. 509 ff.

29
brought out with the skill of a truly great portrait artist have survived, and there are few enough from the fifth
who seems to have been unhampered by the rules of century. Thus, in order to evaluate the drapery style
convention. The Milan head is also the work of an of our bust we will have to consider reliefs in ivory and
artist of high quality and is a true likeness of a particular silver as well as paintings and mosaics.
individual, not the rendering of a type or the personi- The outstanding qualities of the drapery style of our
fication of an idea.27 But the subject is an empress, bust are the fluid softness of the modeling, the almost
wearing the insignia of her office and displaying in the entire absence of hard lines and grooves, the delicacy
expression of her face the majesty of her elevated and refinement of the surface finish, and the natural
position. Thus we see in this portrait a certain degree fall of the drapery over the shoulder and across the
of stylization, especially in the rendering of the eyes chest. None of these qualities appears in the toga
and their surroundings. But even this seems to be the statues of officials from the time of Theodosius down
portrayal of reality, not a device of artistic convention. to the Justinianic era, and even the relative softness of
We know of Theodora that she was extremely aware the draperies of the Aphrodisias chlamydati appears
and proud of her exalted position, and thus she would hard and wooden by comparison.29 We have to go a
have adopted a stern and somewhat forced expression long way back in the history of Roman sculpture to
as something natural to her. Procopius says that her find a similar rendering of drapery folds, and it is
glance was always stern and tense.28 It would appear, among works showing "classicistic" tendencies that we
then, that the differences between the two portraits are find the closest parallels for the style of our bust. We
due mainly to the different status of the sitters. What may compare, for instance, the Hadrianic tondi on the
might appear at first glance as abstract stylization in Arch of Constantine,30 and some of the reliefs of the
the Milan portrait is in fact as much the representation Ara Pacis.31 The differences are, however, as obvious
of reality as is the ease and naturalness of forms that as the similarities, and even if the bust had survived
give the Metropolitan bust its distinction. In both without its head one would not have thought of a date
works we can observe a breaking away from the rigid in the earlier Roman imperial period. In spite of the
conventionalism prevailing in the portraits of Ariadne meticulous rendering of detail, the Metropolitan bust
and, in a different manner, also in the bronze head of appears flatter, less voluminous than even the Ara
Euphemia, and the awakening of a somewhat sublimat- Pacis reliefs. And above all, the treatment of the
ed feeling for the realities of the individual human drapery along the surviving left side with its rather
countenance and character. incongruous vertical lines seems different from that on
No parts of the statues to which the portrait heads of any piece of sculpture made within an uninterrupted
the empresses of the first half of the sixth century once development of classical tradition. However, the fact
belonged have survived. Thus we cannot know whether that the rendering of the drapery folds across the chest
observations made with regard to the style of the heads and on the left shoulder so obviously reflects a Graeco-
would also apply to the drapery style. Not many Roman tradition seems to show that we are in the
sculptures in the round dating from the sixth century presence of one of the various classical "revivals," or,

27. And certainly not "nur Symbol der kaiserlichen Macht, ein ostendens. Nam et corpus perhumile curvabat portas ingrediens
G6tzenbild, das angebetet werden will," as H. v. Heintze, Romische celsas, et velut collo munito rectam aciem luminum tendens nec
Portrdt-Plastikaus siebenJahrhunderten
(Stuttgart, I961) p. I8, says. dextra vultum nec laeva flectebat tamquam figmentum homi-
28. Procopius, HistoriaArcana10: yopyov TE KaI cruvECrTpap- nis, . . ."
piEOV dEli 3XwTouca. 29. For late toga statues see Kollwitz, OstromischePlastik, pls.
On Theodora, see C. Diehl, ByzantineEmpresses(New York, I963) 24-29, 31-33; J. Inan and E. Rosenbaum, Roman and Early
chapter III (a translation of the corresponding chapter in Figures ByzantinePortraitSculpturein Asia Minor (London, I966) no. 244
byzantines[Paris, I906], this being a condensation of Thdodora, (pl. 177, 3, Aphrodisias), no. 202 (pl. I77, 4, Ephesus), and the
imperatricede Byzance [Paris, 1904]); W. Schubart, Justinian und bust of a togatus from Ephesus, no. 20o (pl. i84, 2); for the
Theodora(Munich, I943) pp. 50 ff.; B. Rubin, Das ZeitalterJusti- Aphrodisias chlamydatisee Inan and Rosenbaum, nos. 242 and
nians, I (Berlin, I960) pp. 98 ff. For the "official" face of an 243 (pl. 178, I-2, text with further bibliography pp. 179 if.).
emperor in office cf. the description of Constantius II's entry into 30. A. Giuliano, Arcodi Costantino(Milan, I955) figs. 9-I6.
Rome in Ammianus Marcellinus, Book I6, 9 if.: "Augustus . . . 3I. G. Moretti, Ara Pacis Augustae(Rome, 1948) e.g., text, p.
talem se tamque immobilem, qualis in provinciis suis visebatur, 17, fig. 7; and the Tellus relief, pl. I 7.

30
 perhaps more properly, of a style that owes its continual
existence to local workshop traditions in the eastern
part of the Roman Empire, and especially in Asia
Minor, the natural hinterland for Byzantium as Italy
had been for Rome in previous centuries. One of these
waves of classical "revivals" occurred in the period of
the Theodosian dynasty, and from this period we have
reliefs in marble as well as in ivory that are closer to the
style of our bust than the Hadrianic or Augustan reliefs
quoted. Some of the Ravenna sarcophagi display this
"classicizing" trend,32 and we have also a few reliefs
from Constantinople showing a similar drapery style.33
Closer parallels are provided by ivory carvings datable
around 400, such as the Trivulzio panel with the Marys
at the empty tomb (Figure 23). A similar tendency
toward classicism in the rendering of drapery can also
be observed in some ivory carvings and silver works of
the first half of the sixth century: the much-quoted and
well-known London archangel34 is a case in point, and
of the silver works dated by hallmarks we may refer to
the plate with "Theocritus" in the Hermitage,35 and to
the figure of Venus in the Anchises plate, also in the
Hermitage,36 both of the time ofJustinian. These works
are all more or less isolated pieces, forming a minority
within the bulk of sculpture in every possible medium
known from Constantinople. But with all the efforts in
recent years to establish a valid picture of early
FIGURE 23
Byzantine court art, we are, as regards sculpture, faced
with the fact that the most representative pieces of this Angel, detail from the Trivulzio ivory panel.
art, which must have existed, have perished, the Castello Sforzesco, Milan (photo: Dr. A. Schug)
majority of what has survived being mediocre and
rustic in the extreme.37 All the same, the few pieces in drapery style that is perhaps more akin to our Metro-
the field of the minor arts that display this classicizing politan lady than any of the works quoted so far,38 and
style show that Constantinople benefited from artistic at the same time totally different from contemporary
traditions still existing in various centers of the eastern Roman works. Another bust from Asia Minor, of un-
empire. Thus, we can see, for instance, in a portrait certain date, but probably of the fifth century, also
bust probably of Constantinian date from Ephesus, a displays a remarkably "classical" drapery style, un-

32. See good reproductions in A. Grabar, L'age d'or deJustinien OaksStudiesVII, i96 ) no. I6; L. Matsulevich,Byzantinische
An-
(Paris, I966) figs. 286, 288, 290, 293. tike (Berlin and Leipzig, I929) pp. 3-4, 22-31, no. 3, pls. 3-4.
33. M. Bonicatti, Studidi storiadell'artesulla Tardaantichitde sull' 37. For this "rustic"characterof Byzantinesculpturesee A.
Alto Medioevo(Rome, n.d.) figs. 237, 240. Grabar,Sculptures deConstantinople
byzantines (IVe-Xesiecle)(Biblio-
34. Volbach, Elfenbeinarbeiten, no. io09; for its date in the time theque archeologiqueet historiquede l'Institut Francaisd'Ar-
of Justin I see A. A. Vasiliev, Justin the First (Dumbarton Oaks cheologie d'Istanbul, XVII, Paris, I963).
Studies I, I950) pp. 418-426. 38. J. Inan and E. Rosenbaum,RomanandEarlyByzantine
Por-
35. Erica Cruikshank Dodd, ByzantineSilverStamps(Dumbarton trait Sculpturein Asia Minor (London, I966) no. I87 (pl. 101, 2);
Oaks Studies VII, 196i) no. 9, p. 70; L. Matsulevich, Byzantinische W. Oberleitner,"Beitragezur Geschichteder spatantikenPor-
Antike(Berlin and Leipzig, 1929) pp. 4, I I2, no. 4, pls. 3I-32. tratplastikaus Ephesos,"Jahreshefte
desoesterreichischen
archdologi-
36. Erica Cruikshank Dodd, ByzantineSilverStamps(Dumbarton schenInstituts47 (I964-I965) pp. 5 ff., figs. I-5.

3'
 FIGURE 24
Detail from the
Theodora mosaic
panel. Church of San
Vitale, Ravenna
(photo: Anderson)

paralleled in contemporary sculpture from the West.39 underside. Secondly, the rear is not worked in the way
Of the very few works of secular court art of the time normal for a bust, there-is no central support, and the
ofJustinian, the mosaics in San Vitale in Ravenna are tool marks seem odd. There have been known instances
the most important. If we wish to compare these of a statue recut into a bust, or at least suggestions have
mosaics with our bust we have to consider, of course, been made that this might have been the case. One
the difference of medium above all. But even so, I of these is the bust of a togatus, probably of the fifth
think we cannot fail to notice the close similarity in century, in the National Museum in Athens, published
drapery style between our bust and the young ladies of by Kollwitz as recut from a statue.40 Dr. V. G. Calli-
Theodora's court, especially the girl third from the politis of the National Museum kindly examined the
right, one of the four ladies depicted in full (Figure 24). piece for me, sent me photographs of the rear, and
In the illustration, I have deliberately chosen a section expressed the opinion that the tool marks on the rear
equivalent to our bust, and in my opinion, the drapery were made by modern tools. This, to judge by the
style, if translated into sculpture, would be very similar photographs, seems to be very likely correct,41 and here
to that of our new portrait. Moreover, the hand looks we would have a case of modern reworking. The
like a direct adaptation of the mosaic hand to sculpture. Constantinian bust in Ephesus, quoted above, may
Is our new Metropolitan bust really a bust, that is, also have been originally part of a statue: here, too, the
was it originally conceived as a bust ? I do not think so, central support normal with ancient busts is absent,
although I am aware of the fact that I cannot definitely and in this case, the recutting would have been done in
prove this point. First, we have established that the cut antiquity, since the piece was found in the excavations
surface on the right side is not an accidental break, but in its present state.42 Another such case may be the bust
was produced by a saw, and the same is true for the of a chlamydatus from Sebastopolis in the museum in

Por-
39. J. Inan and E. Rosenbaum,RomanandEarlyByzantine reproductions in Kollwitz, OstromischePlastik: the missing right
trait Sculpturein Asia Minor (London, 1966) no. 107 (pl. I84, I). shoulder and side is now restored in plaster whereas the plaster at
40. Kollwitz, Ostromische Plastik, p. 91, no. 18, pl. 4I, Cawadias the rear has been removed.
no. 423. 42. See, on the problem of recutting, W. Oberleitner (article
4I. The present state of the bust differs from that seen in the quoted above in note 38), p. 8; fig. 4 shows the rear view.

32
Tokat, also cited above.43Here, too, there is no central represented in full figure, seated on a double throne,
support, but the spot where it should have been is out- or simply as busts, side by side.46There are also coins
lined. This bust, like the Metropolitan one, has a small where Sophia appears in full, covering part of the bust
metal pin on the underside for fixing it onto some kind of Justin.47The section of the body appearing in these
of a pedestal. There are no records in the small cases is about the same as the surviving part of our bust.
provincial museum of Tokat to show how the piece The young lady in the retinue of Theodora on the San
came into the museum's possession, but since Sebasto- Vitale mosaic, which we adduced above as a parallel
polis is very close to Tokat it is likely that it was a for the drapery style of our bust, is also very similar to
chance find. In any case, if this bust was recut from a the latter with regard to the section of the body shown:
statue, the work would have been done in antiquity. A her right arm is partly hidden by the figure of the girl
possible explanation for such a procedure could be in the white pallium to her right. I know of no double
that the statue was broken at one time and that the figure in the round in which the bodies are closely
lower part was damaged to such an extent that rather attached to one another at the side after the Greek
than piece it together again the undamaged upper part archaic period,48but this may be simply a chance of
was made into a bust. But since all the pieces quoted survival; and the coins prove that the idea as such was
are comparatively late it is difficult to figure out a likely not alien to the early Byzantine period. Besideswe have,
date for this reworking. of course, many examples of such groups in relief, on
However this may have been in the case of our tombstones, throughout the Roman period. If our bust
Metropolitan bust, we have here the added difficulty in fact was part of such a group, we still could only
that the right shoulder and arm also seem to have been conjecture a reason as to why the figure to the right was
cut off deliberately. The fact that the head is slightly cut off, but the peculiar line of the cut on the right side
turned to the right suggeststhat there should have been could be better explained-an entire figurewould have
something on that side to which to turn, for isolated been removed, not just the right shoulder and arm of
figures at this late date are usually strictly frontal.44In the present bust. However, as pointed out above, we
the Justinianic mosaics in Ravenna we frequently find are in no position to prove any of these theories.
heads shown full-face even if the persons are depicted The absence of any insignia makes it impossible to
walking.45 Is it possible that our bust was originally identify the sitter of our portrait. The exceptionally
part of a double portrait, perhaps of husband and wife, high quality of the work and the nobility of posture and
rendered in a way similar to the double portraits of features that characterizes this portrait suggest, how-
emperor and empress on Byzantine coins, i.e., with the ever, that the subject was somehow connected with the
husband's body shown as if sitting or standing slightly court circles of Constantinople at the time ofJustinian.
in front of the wife so that her right shoulder and arm The Theodora panel in San Vitale may help us to
are obscured from view by his left shoulder and arm ? determine at least the milieu from which the sitter
Since Theodora did not claim the right to appear on came. Theodora is here represented surroundedby her
coins, we have no examples of this practice from the own household: two male officials and her ladies in
coinage ofJustinian, but there are many examples from waiting. The faces of these figures show a high degree
the coinage of his nephew and successorJustin II, who of stylization, which is due not only to the exigencies of
was married to Theodora's niece Sophia. The coins official court art but also to the medium. But even so
show this arrangement whether Justin and Sophia are there is no doubt that at least the principal figures are

43. See note 39.

44. This rule is, however, not without exceptions; as an example 47. Bellinger, DumbartonOaks,Justin II, no. I 98.2 (pl. 58).
of this see the bust in Tokat, cited above (note 39).
45. For example, in San Vitale Theodora and the two ladies to 48. Athens,Nat. Mus.,stele (in very highrelief)of Dermysand
her left, and many of the holy virgins and martyrs in San Apollinare Kittylos, G. M. A. Richter, Kouroi,2nd ed. (London, I960) no. I i,
Nuovo. figs. 76-77. Delbrueck, RM 28 (I913) p. 317, suggested the pos-
46. Seated: Bellinger, DumbartonOaks,Justin II, no. 25c.3 (pl. sibilitythat the Milan head of Theodoramight have been part of
50), dated 565/6; busts: Bellinger, DumbartonOaks,Justin II, nos. a statuethat had a neighborto its right"wiebei den Kaiserpaaren
199.1, 200.1, 200.2, and 200.6 (pl. 58). auf byzantinischenMiinzen."

33
characterized as portraits of particular individuals. A provenance. In recent years much work has been done
comparison between Theodora and the marble head in in an effort to gain more precise knowledge about the
Milan shows quite clearly, in my opinion, that these art of Constantinople in the first three centuries after
are portraitsof the same person.49It has been suggested its foundation by Constantine. As a reaction to the
that the two ladies to the left of Theodora represent tendency of previousgenerationsof scholarsto attribute
Antonina, the wife of Belisariusand the "second lady" the surviving worksof art of the fifth and sixth centuries
in the empire, and her daughterJohannina.50The sug- to one or another of the older centers of art in the
gestion is attractive, although the age difference be- eastern Roman Empire, such as Antioch and Alexan-
tween the two does not seem to be that between mother dria, we observe now the opposite trend to assign almost
and daughter. The group of five young ladies that everything of some artistic merit to the capital of the
concludes the train, shows, as has been pointed out empire. The evidence on which these attributions are
frequently, far less individualization, but in my opinion based is slender, to say the least, and more often than
the attempt to depict five different individuals is not not it is a subjective aesthetic judgment that has led
completely lacking. All five, however, are shown as scholars to their opinions. The sculpture that has so far
young women compared with Theodora and the two come out of the soil of Constantinople is to a large
ladies next to her. They have fuller faces with rounded extent very mediocre and rustic in appearance (espe-
cheeks and fuller lips. Their costumes and jewelry vary cially after the Theodosian period) and is certainly no
from one another: the girl on the extreme right of the testimony to a superior court art. As proof for the
panel, partially hidden by the figure next to her, even existence of the latter we usually find worksquoted that
wears a jewel-studded diadem. The girl in the center were found, and very probably made, elsewhere.
of the three in the foreground, whom we have already Constantinople did not have an artistic tradition of its
cited above in connection with the drapery style and own: when Constantine transferredhis capital to the
the section of our bust, wears no jewelry at all, except site, he found there an insignificant provincial town
for earrings. Her relationship to Theodora seems to and one that most probably had not quite recovered
be comparable to that of the Metropolitan lady to the from the last great disaster under Septimius Severus.
marble portrait of Theodora in Milan. Thus it seems In order to give his new capital some luster, he not only
possible that the young woman portrayed in our bust removed there works of art from Rome and elsewhere,
could have belonged to the entourage of Theodora. but also most probably had to induce artistsfrom places
And in this case the scroll she holds might not be quite with an uninterrupted tradition to work in the new
such a conventional attribute but might denote that capital. Thus we should not be surprisedto find among
this lady had received a literary education and had the artistic output of Constantinople works of different
distinguished herself in the field of learning.51The por- quality and of divergent stylistic trends, ranging from
trait might have been made on the occasion of her mar- the Balkan provinces to Coptic Egypt.52 Some of the
riage, and the work must have been entrusted to one of surviving hallmarked silver work and illuminated
the best sculptors available in the capital. manuscriptsof the quality of the Vienna Dioscorides as
Much in the evaluation of this portrait must remain well as ivory carvings of more or less undisputed
conjecture. But one thing is certain: we are in the Constantinopolitan origin prove that artists from the
presence here of one of the best surviving works of old established artistic centers of Alexander's empire
Justinianic court art in the field of sculpture, and the also went to workin the new capital. The superb quality
only one of its kind that is undoubtedly of metropolitan of the decorative sculpture in Hagia Sophia and in

49. They also seem to be of about the same age, which, if the 5I. Juliana Anicia, the patrician lady for whom the Vienna
Milan head is datable around 540, would be in favor of a date for Dioscorides codex was made (see above, note 2 I ), is a good example
the San Vitale portrait shortly before Theodora's death (cf. above, of the role that could be played in the sixth century by a woman of
note I8). good family and shows also what kind of sitter we might postulate
50. See, e.g., C. 0. Nordstr6m, Ravennastudien(Stockholm, for a private portrait of high quality.
1953) p. 90. The opinion is found repeatedly in works dealing with 52. See the work by A. Grabar, cited above, note 37. See also
the Ravenna mosaics. J. Beckwith, The Art of Constantinople (London, 1961).

34
lesser churches such as SS. Sergius and Bacchus as well we have a genuine representative of Justinianic court
as that of the mass-produced articles of church furni- sculpture in Constantinople. This, in turn, brings new
ture, such as chancel screens and pulpits exported from certainty to the problem of the provenance of the Milan
the capital or rather its "house"-quarries of Procon- head: the stylistic affinities between the two portraits
nesus, prove that by the sixth century Constantinople are so close that we can safely assume the same work-
had outstanding sculptors' workshops. But with regard shop for their manufacture, if not the same hand. We
to sculpture in the round or even relief sculpture of a have not been able, for the purpose of the present
nondecorative nature we did not have, so far, a single article, to have the marble of the Milan head examined,
piece for which a metropolitan provenance was as- and I have not seen the head at first hand for quite
sured. It has been taken more or less for granted that some time. But I think here, as elsewhere, we can rely
works like the Milan head of Theodora were made in on Delbrueck's observations in I913,53that the head is
Constantinople, and even the portraitsof Ariadne have made of fine-grained marble "der mir nicht lunensisch
been attributed to the capital: but in no case has there zu sein schien." Fine-grained marble of a quality that
been conclusive evidence for such an assertion. Our will at all evoke Luna marble is, so far as I know, found
new bust came to the Metropolitan Museum through only in Phrygia, and this marble is eminently suited to
the art market, so that we do not know the precise sculpture of refined quality. It does not seem impossible
findspot nor the topographical context to which it that both pieces were made from marble from the
belonged. But a provenance from "greater Constan- Phrygian quarries.
tinople" is assured. And considering its affinities to the The history of early Byzantine court sculpture still
one surviving portrait in the round of Theodora and to has to be written. The new Metropolitan portrait bust
the Ravenna mosaics that were at least inspired by seems to me the first piece known so far that is likely to
imperial patronage, we can probably say that at last provide a firm basis for such a history.
53. P. 31 . To my knowledge, Delbrueck is the only scholar head referred to as small. Approximately 15 cm. (about 5% in.)
dealing with this head who makes any mention of the material from chin to hairline is not large, but certainly a natural size: many
from which it is made. He also seems to be the only one who states women have smaller faces than that. Procopius (HistoriaArcana 0o)
correctly that the dimensions of the head along with those of the describes Theodora as beautiful and graceful, but short: the word
three portraits of Ariadne are life-size. Usually we find the Milan he uses (Ko0o136c) can even mean "undersized."

Appendix: PortraitHead of a Woman in Toulouse

THE MUSEE St.-Raymond in Toulouse houses a por- toriques de la Region Midi-Pyrenees at Toulouse, had
trait head of a woman of great interest, which is little the great kindness to examine the head for me, take
known (Figures 22, 25-28). It was published by Espe- new photographs of it, and send me all available
randieu in 9go08with only a full-face illustration, and information. It is on the basis of M. Labrousse'sphoto-
dated in the second century A.D. Richard Delbrueck graphs and notes that I wish to present here a new
quoted it in an article on a bronze head of a woman of evaluation of this important piece of late antique por-
about A.D. 400 as a contemporary example of the head- trait sculpture.
dress of the latter.2 The head, which had escaped my
i. E. Esperandieu, RecueilGienral des Bas-reliefsde la GauleRo-
notice, was brought to my attention by Vera K. Ostoia maine,II (Paris, 1908) p. 103, no. I030.
of the Metropolitan Museum,3 for, on account of this 2. R. Delbrueck, "Bronzener Frauenkopf, um 400 n.Chr.,"
headdress, the portrait is of interest in connection with BonnerJahrbiicherI50 (1950) p. 89 with note 8.
3. I wish to thank Mrs. Ostoia for her generosity in giving me
the new Metropolitan bust. M. Michel Labrousse, this reference and other information that she had collected in con-
Directeur of the Circonscription des Antiquites His- nection with the Metropolitan bust.

35
 FIGURES 25-28
Portrait head of a woman. Musee St.-Raymond, Toulouse (photo: Michel Labrousse)

36
 The description of the head by M. Labrousse reads folds between the upper lids and the eyebrows, and
as follows:4 finely modeled depressions below the lower lids. The
pupils are crescent-shaped with a semicircular dot
La tete, de provenance inconnue, est conservee dans
les reserves et fixee sur un socle qui porte le n? 82 inscrit indicating the highlight, and the irises have been
au crayon. Le cou a ete coupe a la base meme du men- incised in the form of large half-circles. The narrow-
ton et la hauteur totale est de 0,31 m, non de 0,36 bridged nose seems to have been curved and well
comme le disait Esperandieu. Le marbre est blanc, a shaped. The modeling of the cheeks can best be ob-
peine jaunatre, poli et comme lustre. I1 ne semble pas served in the profile views. The lips are full, the lower
d'origine pyreneenne. L'etat de conservation est excel-
lip slightly pouting. The round chin is prominent.
lent. Seuls sont abimes le nez et l'arriere du cou.
The heavy hair is almost entirely covered by a scarf,
Quelques meurtrissures se marquent sur les pommettes
des joues, au-dessus de l'arcade sourciliere gauche et 'a apparently of thin material, but not thin enough to
la partie superieure de la chevelure. Toutes les restau- reveal the coiffure underneath clearly. It seems that
rations en platre ont ete supprimes et les photographies the hair was parted in the center: two thin strands of
vous donnent l'etat de conservation exact. hair on either side of the part emerge in the center of
A mon avis, toute la partie arriere de la chevelure est
the forehead from underneath the scarf. The mass of
couverte d'une sorte de bonnet plutot que deux tresses
de cheveux repliees comme le disait Esperandieu. the hair is brushed down and to the sides, covering the
ears completely. A small portion of the hair over the
Nothing is known of the provenance. In the old ears and a short curved lock in front of either ear have
catalogues of the museum by Ernest Roschach (I865) been left uncovered by the scarf. At the nape of the
and Henri Rachou (1912) the piece was listed with the neck the hair is divided in two broad flat strands that
sculptures found in the villa of Chiragan, at Martres- are laid around the head in such a manner that in the
Tolosane (Haute-Garonne).5 M. Labrousse doubts the front view they frame the head like a narrow halo. The
correctness of this assertion and thinks it more likely ends of the scarf are wound around this part and ap-
that the portrait was in one of the private collections parently tucked under it. The scarf is pulled rather
that existed in Toulouse in the seventeenth and eight- tight. A thin long clip seems to hold it in position in the
eenth centuries.6 Indeed, the piece does not have the center; on either side of this clip thin creases appear.
appearance of local provincial manufacture,7 and it There are also some creases on the portion wound
seems more probable that it was made in one of the around the head.
greater art centers. We shall have to return to this point. We are unable to say whether the head once be-
The head portrays a young woman, probably not longed to a bust or a statue. But the strongly marked
older than thirty, with a full, oval face and striking asymmetry of the face shows that the head was turned
features. Her narrow eyes are set fairly wide apart and considerably to its left.
slightly oblique. The eyebrows are raised and form The coiffure seems to be a variant of the "turban"
sharp, highly arched ridges. There are prominent flesh type, which was current throughout the fourth cen-

4. I quote from his letter dated December 4, i967. grande que nature, extremement barbare; coiffure tres volumi-
5. The following extracts from these catalogues were kindly neuse et si grossierement traitee qu'on ne peut en determiner la
supplied by M. Labrousse: "Ernest Roschach, Museesde Toulouse, nature; pommettes tres saillantes, menton etroit et anguleux. Le
Antiquites... Objectsd'art... (Toulouse, I865) p. 38, no. 79: 79 Tete nez est restaure au platre; les deux joues et l'arcade sourciliere sont
de femme: marbre blanc. Travail extremement barbare; coiffure erodees; la prunelle est incisee.
tres volumineuse et si grossierement traitee qu'on ne peut en de- "Ce morceau est monte sur un socle en pierre compose de deux
terminer la nature, pommettes tres saillantes, menton etroit et parallelipipedes rectangles superposes. (Cat. i865, no. 79)."
anguleux: le nez manque; l'arcade sourciliere est creusee avec M. Labrousse adds: "Roschach et Rachou classent cette tete
une exageration brutale qui se retrouve dans l'evidemment des parmi celles qui viennent de la villa de Chiragan, a Martres-
prunelles. Cette tete est certainement un portrait de femme indi- Tolosane (Haute-Garonne)."
gene execute par un sculpteur realiste. 6. Letter by M. Labrousse, dated December 14, i967.
"Henri Rachou, Cataloguedes collectionsde sculptureet d'epigraphie 7. Delbrueck, BJb 150 (1950) p. 89, thought the sitter might
du museede Toulouse(Toulouse, 19I2) p. 52, no. 82: 82 Tete de have been a Visigothic princess, but this seems to be highly un-
femme; marbre blanc.-H. 0.47 m. avec le piedestal. Tete plus likely.

37
 FIGURE 29
Portrait head of a woman. Museo Capitolino,
Rome (photo: German Archaeological Institute,
Rome)

tury.8 In this coiffure, the hair is usually gathered in

tresses that cross one another at the back and are
wound around the head in one or more layers to form
a kind of turban that comes down in front slightly
above the forehead. Sometimes, however, the tresses
are laid around the head in a manner that resembles
the halo-like feature of the Toulouse head. A portrait
in the Museo Capitolino (Figure 29)9 should be com-
pared in particular. Here, the tresses do not cross at
the back, and the center part of the hair is continued
along the back of the head. The tresses are, however,
so broad that in the profile view the entire back of the
head is hidden beneath them. But seen from the front
and the rear they form a kind of halo similar to that of
the Toulouse head.
The coiffure does not help to date our portrait close-
ly, and neither does the form of the headdress. Del-
brueck has pointed out that the earliest examples of this
fashion are from around A.D. 400,10 and no earlier
example seems to have come to light since he studied
the relevant material. We have seen above that the
scarf fashion became more current at the end of the
fifth and in the sixth century. The style of the Toulouse
head, however, precludes such a late date. The most
characteristic features of the face are the eyes and the
surrounding area, and the modeling of the cheeks and

8. See B. M. Felletti Maj, "Contributo alla iconografia del IV

secolo D.C., II ritratto femminile," Criticad'Arte6 (1941) pp. 74-
go, especially p. 76. R. Calza, "Cronologia ed identificazione dell'
'Agrippina' Capitolina," Atti della PontificiaAccademiaRomanadi
Archeologia,Ser. III, Memorie8, II (1955) pp. 107-I36, especially
p. 1 8. H. P. L'Orange, "Der subtile Stil, eine Kunststromung um
400 n.Chr.," AntikeKunst4 (196I) pp. 68-74, especially p. 72. R.
Delbrueck, SpatantikeKaiserportrats, pp. 46 ff.
9. Salone 57; R. Delbrueck, RM 28 (1913) p. 329, fig. 7; R.
Delbrueck, SpatantikeKaiserportrdts,p. 49, fig. 19; B. M. Felletti
Maj, Criticad'Arte6 (1941) p. 79, no. I0, pl. 46, 3.
Io. See above, p. 28, note 20; further BJb 150 (1950) p. 89.

FIGURE 30
Portrait head of a young man. Museo Nazionale,
Rome (photo: German Archaeological Institute,
Rome)

38
 '.

FIGURES 31, 32
Portrait head of Arcadius. Archaeological Museum, Istanbul (photo: Hirmer, Munich)

the area around the mouth. We see here a treatment of brought abo'ut by essentially linear means, noticeable
facial forms that is different from the strong structure in particular in the treatment of the eyes, in the way in
and sometimes highly differentiated modeling charac- which they are embedded in their surroundingsand set
teristic of Constantinian portrait sculpture as well as off sharply against the cheeks and the forehead, in the
from both the utter smoothness of certain Theodosian thin curved noses, and in the mouths that terminate at
portraits and the delicate and fluid modeling apparent the cornersin thin lines, a little upturned into a slightly
in the Metropolitan bust. mocking smile. These same characteristics are to be
L'Orange has repeatedly studied a group of por- found in the Toulouse head. In particular we should
traits of the Theodosian period which share charac- compare the portraits of young men in the Museo
teristics that distinguish them from such sculptures of
the period as those on the base of the obelisk or the i i. H. P. L'Orange, AntikeKunst4 (1961) pp. 69 ff.; Studienzur
GeschichtedesspatantikenPortrats(Oslo, 1933) p. 76; see also G. von
portrait of Valentinian II from Aphrodisias.11 Com-
Kaschnitz-Weinberg, "Spatromische Portrats," Die Antike2 (1926)
bined with a sometimes china-like smoothness of the pp. 36-60, especially pp. 54 ff.; C. Albizzati, Historia3 (I929) pp.
surface we find here a subtle differentiation of detail 422 iff.

39
Nazionale in Rome (Figure 30)12 and in the Glypto- with any degree of certainty. However, the high quality
thek in Munich.13 The head of Arcadius in Istanbul of the workmanship makes it likely that it was made in
(Figures 3I, 32)14 shows similar stylistic features that one of the artistic centers of the late Roman world, and
distinguish it from the portrait of Valentinian II from the fact that it seems to have been in Toulouse for some
Aphrodisias.15 Among the few portraits of women of time before the compilation of the i865 catalogue
this period we find this style in the portrait of an empress points perhaps to the West rather than the East. The
in Timgad.16 only certainty seems to be that we have here one of the
L'Orange termed this style "subtiler Stil" and saw masterpieces of Theodosian portrait sculpture.
in it a further development of the "sch6ne Stil" under
Theodosius, to be dated in the time of Arcadius and REFERENCES FREQUENTLY CITED
Honorius.17 It seems to me that these two styles could
well have existed side by side in the period of the Bellinger, DumbartonOaks-A. R. Bellinger, Catalogueof the
Theodosian dynasty. The portraits of Valentinian II ByzantineCoinsin theDumbartonOaksCollectionI (Washing-
ton, D.C., I966).
and of Arcadius, mentioned above, are at the most ten
Delbrueck, Consulardiptychen-R.Delbrueck, Die Consular-
years apart, and the portrait from Timgad may even diptychenundverwandte Denkmaler(Studien zur spatantiken
be as early as about 370,18 so that if we consider it as Kunstgeschichte 2, Berlin and Leipzig, I929).
Delbrueck, SpdtantikeKaiserportrdts-R. Delbrueck, Spat-
showing the characteristics of the "subtile" style, the antikeKaiserportrdts
vonConstantinus
Magnusbis zumEndedes
latter would appear during the entire last third of the Westreichs(Studien zur spatantiken Kunstgeschichte 8,
fourth century. However this may be, the Toulouse Berlin and Leipzig, I933).
head seems to belong stylistically to this group and Kollwitz, OstromischePlastik-J. Kollwitz, Ostrdmische Pla-
stikdertheodosianischen
Zeit (Studien zur spatantiken Kunst-
should be dated, therefore, in the last decades of the geschichte 12, Berlin, 1941).
fourth century and not later than the very beginning Volbach, Elfenbeinarbeiten-F.W. Volbach, Elfenbeinarbeiten
of the fifth century. der Spdtantikeund desfriihen Mittelalters,2nd ed. (Mainz,
I952).
Since we have no precise data about the provenance
Wegner, Musensarkophage-M.Wegner, Die Musensarkophage
of the head, we cannot determine the place of its origin (Die antikenSarkophagreliefs,
V, 3, Berlin, I966).

I2. G. von Kaschnitz-Weinberg, Die Antike 2 (I926) pp. 56- furtherbibliography).Compareespeciallythe profileviews,where
57, fig. I2; L'Orange,Studien zur Geschichtedes spatantikenPortrats the differencebetweenthe two is most obviousand the stylistic
(Oslo, I933) cat. no. 102, figs. 194-195; id., AntikeKunst4 (I961) affinitybetweenthe head of Arcadiusand the Toulouseportrait
p. 69, pl. 28, I-2. B. M. Felletti Maj, Museo Nazionale Romano,I mostconspicuous,for instancein the modelingof the cheeksand
ritratti(Rome, I953) no. 323. the chin.
13. C. Albizzati, Historia 3 (I929) pp. 422 ff., figs. I3-I5;
desspdtantiken
I6. R. Delbrueck,Spdtantike pl. 89; B. M. Felletti
Kaiserportrdts,
L'Orange, Studienzur Geschichte Portrats(Oslo, 1933)
Maj, Criticad'Arte 6 (I941) pp. 82-83, no. 25; compare also the
cat. no. 101, figs. 192-193; id., AntikeKunst4 (I961) p. 69, pl. 28,
head of a womanin Copenhagen,Ny CarlsbergGlyptotek,Poul-
3-4. pl. 57; B. M.
(I951) no. 68o a, p. 474, Billedtavler,
sen, Catalogue
14. -N. Firatli, "A Late Antique Imperial Portrait Recently Dis- Felletti Maj, Criticad'Arte6 (1941) p. 82, no. 23, pl. 47, 8.
covered at Istanbul," AmericanJournalof Archaeology55 (195 1) pp.
Kunst(Munich,
67-7 I, with figs. i-5; W. F. Volbach, Friihchristliche I 7. AntikeKunst4 (1961 ) p. 69; see also his earlier similar state-
1958) pls. 56, 57. desspdtantiken
mentsin StudienzurGeschichte Portrdts(Oslo, I933)
15. Inan and Rosenbaum, Roman and Early ByzantinePortrait pp. 76-77.
Sculpturein Asia Minor (London, I966) no. 66, pl. 42, I-2 (with I8. R. Delbrueck,Spatantike pp. 192-193.
Kaiserportrdts,

40
 A Group of

Mosan
Fourteenth-Century Sculptures

WILLIAM H. FORSYTH
Curatorof MedievalArt, The MetropolitanMuseumof Art

AMERICANmuseums are full of charming and some- of this period (Figure i) shared the usual anonymity,
times beautiful statues of the Virgin and Child of the and could only be labeled "French, xiv century." All
medieval period, most of them obviously French in that was known about the statue when it was acquired
origin. Many of them were given by American private in 1924was that it had previouslybeen in the Economos
collectors who acquired them in the first quarter of the collection in Paris and that it had passed through the
twentieth century when such sculptures were more hands of several international art dealers.3 It was a
easily available than at present. Since these statues double satisfaction, therefore, to discover at the same
customarily passed through a number of hands, their time both its date and its origin.
places of origin have almost always been forgotten and A study of photographs of fourteenth-century sculp-
are not now easily rediscovered.1Beyond a general at- ture had already indicated that our statue was extraor-
tribution to the fourteenth century, their dates are also dinarily like another marble Madonna, at Diest in
usually unknown. Indeed, it is rare to find any four- eastern Belgium just west of the Meuse valley.4 A
teenth-century Madonnas that can definitely be dated, close examination of the Diest Madonna (Figure 2)
even among those that have remained in their place of revealed the astonishing fact that it was a modern copy
origin.2 of our figure. That it is a copy is apparent in many ways,
Until recently one of the Museum's finest Madonnas some of which can be verified by a study of the com-

I. The author has sought where possible to form regional Coutances,Langres,and Dijon (portalof Chartreuseof Champ-
groups of French Virgins of the fourteenth century by analyzing mol) have terminaldatesbut not specificdatesof manufacture.
their facial characteristics and other distinctive features of their 3. Acc. no. 24.215. H. 46 in. (Ix7 cm.). See Joseph Breck, "A
style and iconography. See for instance, "Medieval Statues of the MarbleStatueof the Virgin,"TheMetropolitan Museum ofArtBulle-
Virgin in Lorraine Related in Type to the Saint-Die Virgin," tin 20 (1925) pp. 39-41, and MartinKonrad,Meisterwerke
derSkulp-
MetropolitanMuseumStudies5, Part 2 (1936) pp. 235-258, and "The turin FlandernundBrabant(Berlin, I928) pp. I2, 13.
Virgin and Child in French Fourteenth-Century Sculpture. A 4. H. 46Y2in. (I I8 cm.). The Virginat Diest has beenpublished
Method of Classification," Art Bulletin39 (I957) pp. I7 1-I82. by MargueriteDevigne,La Sculpture mosane duXIIeau xvIe siecle
(Paris and Brussels, 1932) p. 67, and Konrad, Meisterwerke,
pp. I I-
2. Among the few securely dated French Madonnas of this 14, pl. iii, who related it to the Metropolitan Museum figure. It
period are those at Limoges Cathedral, tomb of Renaud de la was exhibited in Brusselstwice, once in I954 (Trdsorsd'artdu
Ponte, 1325; Sens Cathedral, 1334; a silver statuette in the Louvre Brabant)but not in the catalogue,and againin I961 (Collections
de
from the abbey church of St. Denis, 1339; Magny-en-Vexin from l'Assistance
publique, no. 6). I owe the last two referencesto the
the abbey church of St. Denis, 1340; Muneville-le-Bingard, 1343; kindnessof M. Didier, Librarian,InstitutRoyal du Patrimoine
Lesches (Seine-et-Marne), 1370. Other statues, like those at Artistique,Brussels.

4I

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

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[t

.4
 FIGURE I

Virgin and Child, from Diest. The Metropolitan

Museum of Art, Fletcher Fund, 24.215

FIGURE 2
Virgin and Child. Diest Museum (photo: Institut
Royal du Patrimoine Artistique, Brussels: ACL)

parative photographs: the lack of precision in such

details as the carving of the hair and the mouth of the
Virgin (Figures 3 and 4), the absence of grime, the
imitation of some of the breaks around the base of our
figure, and the extreme freshness of the chisel-work.
Traces of the original painted border remain on the
old statue, but are missing on the copy.
The copy, which is now in the local museum of
Diest, came from the church of St. Catherine. One can
presume that it was made to replace the original when
that was sold from the church some time before the
First World War.5The church of St. Catherine belongs
to the beguinage of Diest. The Beguines were a lay sister-
hood then popular in the Lowlands; their male counter-
parts were known as Beghards, a name which soon be-
came associated with wandering mendicants and which
is related to the English word "beggar."
A report of the church, dated 1345, states that the
sister superior of the Beguines of Diest paid two pounds
for the image "in alabaster stone," a remarkably high

5. The same duplication occurs in another marble statue of the

Virgin and Child now in the Metropolitan Museum from the
Morgan collection, acc. no. 17.190.721. A modern copy of it is
now in the church at Couilly, east of Paris, said to have come from
the former abbey of Pont-aux-Dames nearby. The copy was proba-
bly also made when the statue was originally sold, about the
beginning of the century. Here too the copy is betrayed, if examined
closely, by the freshly cut surface, the lack of any wear, and a slight
misunderstanding of some drapery. Mme Lefran?ois-Pillion
published both statues as original in "Les Statues de la Vierge a
l'Enfant dans la sculpture frangaise au XIVe siecle," Gazettedes
Beaux-Arts77 (1935) p. 14, figs. 5, 8.

FIGURE 3
Detail of the Metropolitan Museum's Virgin,
shown in Figure I

FIGURE 4
Detail of the Diest Museum's Virgin, shown in
Figure 2 (photo: ACL, Brussels)

43
 price for the time.6 The statue is actually of marble,
but a variety sometimes confused with alabaster.
Cardinal Granville, in the middle of the sixteenth cen-
tury, granted an indulgence of twenty days to those
praying before the high altar on which stood the statue,
then called Our Blessed Lady of Jerusalem.7 In an
eighteenth-century letter of the archbishop there is a
reference to the alabaster statue of Our Lady of
Jerusalem, which had been moved from the high altar
to the front of the choir.8 Another eighteenth-century
description of the statue records that it was then placed
"above the entrance to the choir." By the early twenti-
eth century the Virgin was standing in a central niche
on the north wall of the nave. It is clearly and happily
apparent, therefore, that our statue is one of the rare
medieval Madonnas for which there is documentation.
Although the statue is also carved on its back side, it
probably was not intended to be seen all around, as
there are two metal bars by which it was once attached
to a wall, as well as a long vertical slot cut in the middle
of the back. There are traces of gilding on the hair, the
belt, and the veil of the Virgin, as well as stains to
indicate that there was a pattern painted on the border
of her garments. (The modern statue at Diest has
modern gilding and no traces of old paint.)
It is no surprise to find that the Museum's statue,
coming as it does from Diest, is related to sculptures of
the middle Meuse valley and that in fact it belongs to
a closely knit group, all probably carved in the same
regional workshop and some even by the same hand.
The group consists of six statuettes, all of about the
same size, a small relief, and two life-size figures of the
Madonna, all in marble, as well as a large-scale wood

6. F. J. E. Raymaekers, Het Kerkelijken LiefdadigDiest (Geschie-

denisderKerken,Kapellen,Kloosters,LiefdadigeGestichten,Enz.) (Lou-
vain, 1870) p. 450 (S. Beghuinarum Be Katine de Diest, from 1331
on), identifies the statue as that bought in 1345 by the head of the
Beguines of Diest and described in the accounts of that year:
"ITEM de una ymagine lapidis alabastri... 2 lb. gross. antiquorum."

7. Raymaekers, Diest, p. 450.

FIGURE 5
St. John supporting the Virgin, from Huy. The 8. "Haec imago divae virginis ex alabastro lapide sculpta,
modo posita est ante chorum supra ostium chori" (Raymaekers,
Metropolitan Museum of Art, gift of Archer M. Diest, p. 450).
Huntington, in memory of his father, Collis Pot-
9. R. Koechlin, "La Sculpture belge et les influences frangaises
ter Huntington, 26. Io I.6 aux XIIIe et XIVe si&les," Gazettedes Beaux-Arts45 (1903) pp.
338, 339. Konrad, Meisterwerke,pp. I2, 13. Devigne, Sculpture,pp.

44
relief. Koechlin, Konrad, and Devigne among others
have alluded to various statues in the group and seen
their similarities.9
Two sculptures of this group, now in the Metropoli-
tan Museum (Figures 5 and 6), are said to have been
owned by a private collector of Le Huy and to have
come from the church of Notre-Dame in that town.10
Their later history is fairly well recorded. They ap-
peared in the sales of the Stein collection (Paris, I886)
and of the John Edward Taylor collection (London,
I912) before their acquisition by the American col-
lector Arabella Huntington.11 In 1926 they were given
to the Museum by her son, Archer M. Huntington,
who founded the Hispanic Society of America and
formed its famous collection of Spanish art.
The sculptures must have originally stood on both
sides of a Crucifixion, since one of them represents the
Virgin fainting at the foot of the cross and the other the
Centurion, raising his arm in testimony toward the
crucified Christ, now missing. The back sides of both
reliefs are flat and uncarved to allow them to be at-
tached, probably to an altar retable in the church.
The provenance of Huy is an entirely credible one
for these sculptures, since they evolve from other Mosan
figures, in particular from the carving on the tympa-
num of the Bethlehem portal of Huy (Figure 7)
adjacent to the same church from which the sculptures
are said to have come. John's narrow shoulders, the
drapery fall from his left arm, and the drapery pockets
formed by the folds on the front of the Virgin's mantle
repeat those on the figuresof the tympanum. The facial
types are also similar, and so is the armor worn by the
soldiers in the right-hand sculpture and in the Mas-

58, 66, 67, and figs. 78-81, describes and illustrates most of these
figures (without stressing their close relation).
10. Acc. nos. 26.101.6, 26. 10I.7. H. 22 in. (56 cm.) and 26 in.
(66 cm.), respectively. Joseph Destree, "Groupes en albatre pro-
venant de rl'glise collegiale de Huy," Bulletin de l'Institutarchiolo-
gique liWgeois41 (191 ) pp. 75-80, pl. i. Idem, "A propos des deux
groupes en albatre de l'dglise collegiale de Huy," Chronique archiolo-
gique du Pays de Liege 7 (1912) p. 85. Devigne, Sculpture,p. 58. J. FIGURE 6
Breck, "A Gift of Tapestries and Sculpture," The Metropolitan
Museum of ArtBulletin2 (1926) pp. 142-146. The Centurion and soldiers, from Huy. The
I I. Sale catalogue of John Edward Taylor collection at Chris- Metropolitan Museum of Art, gift of Archer M.
tie's, London, July I 9 2, no. 195, notes previous sale in Stein col-
lection. A. Hyatt Mayor, President of the Hispanic Society, be-
Huntington, in memory of his father, Collis Pot-
lieves that Mr. Archer Huntington's mother probably acquired ter Huntington, 26. IO1.7
them before they passed into the possession of her son.

45
 . 9. s < r

eW .

F - .. 4
*r ,,, X ^P#t w
r it,-';, w -j

i +...h K z oo --eS

rt fSo
_i

m::
s.b<.

..

i - E ir-r -='it
;<¢ rAr>z
.. m- i

FIGURE 7

Tympanum of the Bethlehem portal, Huy (photo: ACL, Brussels)

46
FIGURE 8
The Entombment of Christ.
Chapelle du Calvaire, Liege
(photo: ACL, Brussels)

sacre of the Innocents at the top of the tympanum. The in the Brussels Museum (Figures 9 and I o) ,13 until both
tympanum, therefore, must have been known to the recently turned up on the art market. They have been
sculptor who made the two Crucifixion sculptures. acquired by the Dayton Art Institute. The first, one
Since the present church was begun only in 131I, the of the Magi (Figure I ) from an Adoration of the
portal could be considerably later in date, but proba- Magi, seems patterned in costume and facial type after
bly earlier than I 345 when the Diest Virgin was made.12 the two standing Magi of the Adoration scene on the
Even closer comparisons can be made between the Bethlehem portal (Figure I3). The other (Figure I2) is
drapery folds and faces of the two Crucifixion sculptures a standing Virgin from an Annunciation, especially
and those of a small relief of the Entombment of close to the Diest and Huy Virgins in its facial type (Fig-
Christ placed in the modern Chapelle du Calvaire at ures 3, I4).14 In the Brussels Museum catalogue both
Liege, also on the Meuse just northeast of Huy (Figure of the casts are called "liegeois work," thus attesting to
8). It too may have come from a retable depicting the their Mosan provenance. Their flat backs and their
Passion. size suggest that they too were once part of altar re-
Two figures of the group were known only by casts tables.

12. Various dates for the portal have been proposed. J. J. van chevet. Devigne, Sculpture,pp. 65, 66, gives the last quarter of the
Ysendyck, Documentsclassesde l'art dansles Pays-Bas III (Antwerp, fourteenth century.
I886-I887) pl. i, gives the thirteenth century. J. Helbig, La 13. H. Rousseau, MuseesRoyauxdu Cinquantenaire, Bruxelles.IIIe
Sculptureet les artsplastiquesaupays deLiegeet sur les bordsde la Meuse section(PavillonNord) Cataloguesommairedesmoulages(Brussels, 1926)
(Bruges, I890) p. 72, gives the first half of the fourteenth century. nos. v. 3018-I (I 154) and v. 3018-2 (i 155), lists "un roi mage" and
E. Marchal, La Sculptureet les chefs-d'e,uvre de l'orfevreriebelges(Brus- "une sainte portant un livre; figures debout en demi-bosse, parais-
sels, I895) p. 238, reports finding a date, I536, which obviously sant provenir d'un retable liegeois, XIVe siecle." Devigne. Sculp-
refers to a later addition to the door, since removed. J. Baum, "Die ture,pl. xviii, nos. 78, 81, also publishes these two casts. Koechlin,
liitticher Bildnerkunst im 14. Jahrhundert," BelgischeKunstdenk- "Sculpture belge," p. 338, firstpublished these two casts along with
maler (Munich, 1923) I, p. 174, gives the second half of the four- the seated Virgin in the Van den Bergh Museum, Antwerp, and
teenth century. Koechlin, "Sculpture belge," pp. 341, 343, gives the Virgin in the Lille Museum, as all coming from one group.
the fourteenth century. Canon H. Demaret, La collegialeNotre- 14. Bruce H. Evans, "A Medieval Marble Virgin Annunciate,"
Dame a Huy. Notes et documents(Huy, 1921), dates the doorway in DaytonArt InstituteBulletin26 (1967) pp. I-6. The Virgin, acc. no.
the thirteenth century and believes it was moved in the fourteenth 67.53. H. 22 ?4 in. (56.5 cm.). The Magi, acc. no. 68.4. H. 22 in.
century from the north transept to its present location near the (56 cm.).

47
 *, FIGURE 9

*X
-.
Cast of one of the Magi. Brussels
" e ^a
.T
'4 r- *t''-- t Museum
^
....,-'..... .. .--
FIGURE 10
.-
J1 Cast of the Virgin Annunciate.
t ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~'v- " BrusselsMuseum

V a

A)
I
a,
ma
_
I'

/
FIGURE II
One of the Magi, original of the
cast in Figure 9. Dayton
It Art Institute, 68.4

I FIGURE 12
Virgin Annunciate, original of the
cast in Figure 10. Dayton Art
Institute, 67.53

48
 FIGURE 13
Adoration of the Magi, detail from the tympa-
num of the Bethlehem portal, Huy, shown in
Figure 7 (photo: ACL, Brussels)

In the Mayer van den Bergh Museum of Antwerp is

a seated Virgin, with the Child standing in her lap,
which comes from the church of St. Pierre, at St. Trond,
in the diocese of Liege.15 (Figure 15.) The position of
the Child suggests that he is looking at other figures,
now lost, but which must have represented the Magi.
Perhaps the Dayton Magus is one of these lost figures, as
Devigne has surmised. It is even possible that both
figures were once in the same collection, that of Carlo
Michelil6 and that they could have come from the same
original source, the church at St. Trond. In fact, the
posture of the Virgin, as well as her drapery and her
facial type, seems to be derived from the Virgin of the
Adoration of the Magi on the Bethlehem portal (Figure
16). Koechlin remarked on the facial type as a mark of
a distinct atelier, and Devigne linked the atelier to the
Huy portal.17The face is also close to that of the Diest
Virgin.
One of the finest of the group is a nursing Virgin and
Child (Figure I 7), since I888 in the Lille Museum and
said to have come from Bailleul, northwest of Lille, but
doubtless originating in the Meuse valley like the

I5. Devigne, Sculpture,p. 66, pl. xvIII, no. 79.

I6. Evans, Dayton Bulletin, pp. 5, 6, makes this suggestion.

Micheli, who died about 1895, was the head of the cast atelier at
the Louvre and could have made the casts both of the Antwerp
seated Virgin and the Dayton standing Virgin and Magus. For the
Micheli collection, seeJozef Coo, "La Collection Micheli au musee
Mayer van den Bergh," GazettedesBeaux-Arts107 (I965) pp. 344ff.

17. Koechlin, "Sculpture belge," p. 338, and Devigne, Sculpture,

p. 66.

FIGURE 14
Detail of the Metropolitan's St. John and the
Virgin, shown in Figure 5

49
 <

rest.'8 The Virgin's face is the closest to that of the

Diest Virgin, but the folds do not have their sharpness
and are softer and rounder.
There are other Mosan sculptures in the Museum in
_^^^.,^^^H^
^^^^^^^^^H the same general style and of about the same scale.
-^^^^^^^^B^
.^^^^^^^^^B One of them, said to have come from the beguinageof
.- \ Namur and now in the Cloisters Collection, is a seated
\'^^^r^ ^ ^^^
king (Figure i8).19 Another represents a Holy Woman

i8. H. 25/2 in. (64 cm.). Exhibited in Paris at the Petit Palais.
6^^^
_^^f/r See the catalogue La Viergedansl'artfranfais(1950) no. i6i, fig. 27.
f_
^^^^^B^ _
^^^^^H Here and in P. Vitry and G. Briere, Documentsde sculpturefranfaise
du m6yenage (Paris [1904]) pl. xcvi, i, the statue is called French.
/_^^^^^^^H^
&, W
^ ^^^^ 'M. Pinchart of Lille bought the figure before I870 from a dealer
who said it came from Bailleul nearby, but it must have come
^W'S1 "^te^
_?^^^^^^1 -^^H Z'originally
mans, from the region of the Meuse. See J. Casier and P. Berg-
-~
* J ! E- mans, L'art anciendans les Flandres(Regionde l'Escaut). Mdmorialde
organiseed Ganden I913, I (Brussels, I9I4)
l'Expositionre'trospective
cat. no. I027, pp. 44-45, pl. iv, and bibliography. See also Koech-
lin, "Sculpture beige," p. 338; Devigne, Sculpture,p. 66; and
|i .... ~
~Konrad, Meisterwerke,p. 12.
19. Acc. no. 26.63.34. H. 19 in. (48.2 cm.). The head may be
later in date.

FIGURE 15
Virgin and Child. Mayer van den Bergh Mu- -

seum Antwerp (photo: ACL, Brussels)

ure 7 (photo: ACL, Brussels)

50
 with an ointment jar.20 It may be Flemish or Mosan,
and it has some resemblance to a kneeling donor in the
Van den Bergh Museum, Antwerp. In the Museum of
Art of the University of Michigan is a third Mosan
figure with some resemblances to those of our work-
shop. Philippe Verdier has convincingly compared the
Michigan figure to four other statuettes of apostles
shown in the I905 exposition at Liege, two of them
coming from the local episcopal museum.2' Since he
derives the style of these figuresfrom the Huy portal and
calls them Mosan, it is difficult to understand Verdier's

20. Acc. no. 21.171. H. I5% in. (40 cm.). It is probably from
an Entombment group or from a scene of the Marys at the Easter
Sepulcher.
2 1. P. Verdier, The InternationalStyle, The Arts in Europearound
400oo,October 23-December 2, I962, the Walters Art Gallery,
Baltimore, cat. no. 94, pl. LXXVII,and M. G. Terme, L'Art ancien
au pays de Liege. Mobilieret sculpturesde l'expositionuniversellede Liege
(1905) nos. 1350; 1350, pl. 2.

FIGURE 17

Virgin and Child. Lille Museum (photo: ACL,

Brussels)

FIGURE 18
Seated king. The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
the Cloisters Collection, 26.63.34

51
 suggestion that they were made by a workshop in Lille
in the time of Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy
(1364-1404). Even assuming a migrant Mosan work-
shop active in Lille, this dating is too late and the
provenance of related sculptures too different to accept
the hypothesis.
Several other pieces which are generally similar to
those of the group exist in the Netherlands and have
been kindly pointed out to me by Dr. Jaap van Leeu-
wenberg of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. They are
either Mosan in origin or made under Mosan influence.
There is, in addition to these smaller scaled figures, a

<'V life-size statue of the Virgin and Child closely related

to the Diest Virgin in the arrangement of the drapery,
in the facial type, and in the Child. It is in a chapel of
the ambulatory of Antwerp Cathedral (Figures 19 and
20). Another Virgin at Orval in southeastern Bel-
gium, which is said to be of plaster cement,22 is a
modern copy of the Antwerp statue. Casts of the
Antwerp Virgin are indeed known to have been
made.23The Antwerp Virgin itself, it must be admitted,
looks remarkably fresh; perhaps it was overcleaned
when the casts were made. It was not apparently
recorded before I88o when it was exhibited in Brus-
sels. It is said to have come from "a former church of
Liege."24 Often exhibited25 and published since then,

22. Didier kindly writes that "la Vierge d'Orval est une copie
recente, en ciment ou en pierre reconstitu6e, de la Vierge d'An-
vers."
23. Rousseau, Cataloguesommairedes moulages,p. I64, no. I682,
records one cast in the Brussels Museum.
24. H. about 50 in. (about I27 cm.). In the Catalogueofficielde
l'ExpositionNational, IVe section-Industriesd'arten Belgiqueanterieure
au XIX siecle(Brussels, I88o) B 446, it is described: "La Vierge por-
tant l'EnfantJesus. Marbre XIIIe siecle. Provient d'une ancienne
6glise de Liege. Cathedrale d'Anvers." The GuideBleu for Belgium
(I958 ed.) p. 145, is even more explicit: "Vierge en marbre prove-
nant de l'ancienne cathedrale Saint-Lambert, de Liege (I360
env.)." J. J. van Ysendyck, Documentsclassesde l'art dans les Pays-
Bas (Antwerp, I88I-I889) p. 87, specifically reaffirms the Liege
origin of the statue, again without giving his source. See also
Konrad, Meisterwerke,pp. 12 and II.
25. It was exhibited again in Brussels and Paris in I882 (L'Art
anciend l'expositionnationalebelge,with illustration opposite p. 272);
in Antwerp in I 948 (A. Jansen and C. Van Herck, KerkelijkeKunst-
schatten[Antwerp, I949] II, p. 5I, cat. no. 236); in Liege in I951
(Art mosanet arts anciensdupays de Liege,no. 434); again in Paris in
FIGURE I951-I952 (Tresorsd'art de la vallee de la Meuse, no. I80); and in
19
Antwerp in I954 (F. Baudouin, De Madonnain de Kunst.Catalogus
Virgin and Child. Antwerp Cathedral (photo: no. I38, Kon.MuseumvoorSchoneKunsten).In Paris in 1968, L'Europe
ACL, Brussels) gothiqueXIIe-XIVe siecles,Mus6e du Louvre, no. I65, bibliog.

52
 the statue is clearly Mosan in style and can be con-
sidered a product of our workshop. Koechlin 26 called
_-^^^^^^^^^^
..~.?P^^ ^^^^her a typical "Vierge a la francaise," but V6ge27 was
^,
^^^^^^^.
,f^.-' ^^^^^^H probably more correct in relating her to French proto-
^''^"^ 2_
^-^*_T _::
"s^^^^^^^^^^^^ types rather than in attributing her to a French work-
. t- ^^shop.
"P^gfc
^k^K7^A Her supposed relation to a Virgin at Hal is hard
'^m^*^ S ^^S
^E^^to see.28 Though there are superficial resemblances be-
E. fl-L.
_^.'^^^L iBO^^^^I tween our group and German sculpture, these may
merely indicate parallel developments from a common
French model.29
,^ iw
^^|jtf^^yit
^H ^^^The drapery of the Antwerp Virgin lacks some of the
more sober architectural verticality of our Diest Virgin
[r., . _^^^A
_ , .(Figures 21 and 22). And, like the Lille Virgin, she is

, 26. Koechlin, "Sculpture belge," p. 339.

~
?A 27. Wilhelm V6ge, "Die Madonna der Sammlung Oppen-
"
. _'q
\3
~,_StttJv^
_'^^R, *^^ heim," Jahrbuchderk6niglichpreuszischenKunstsammlungen
29 (1908)
pp. 217-219.
_ ~,<~
iW~[~~~ _28. ~~Georg Troescher, Die burgundische
Plastik desausgehenden
Mit-
telalters (Frankfurt am Main, I940) p. 72, also suggests some
influence from the St. Catherine of Courtrai by Beauneveu. For
_ ,,]~ ,_ the supposed relation to Hal and to German sculpture. see also
/
,^^^^^Br^ _tXf
^^bibliography
T'll X quoted by Konrad, Meisterwerke,p. II.
71
^-?^ ^-^
/- *y'_ J A' 'h <>
^29. Konrad, Meisterwerke,pp. 11-14, cites the Antwerp Virgin
as having a more direct relation with Lorraine and Cologne
':i ..~-: ?^^^B
^^y^ sculpturethan with that of Parisand as beingslightlyearlierthan
;Xh (j. -
^y ^^^^^^^ the Diest Virgin. There is some parallelism in posture between
-:k:....:
X,,^ Antwerp and some Cologne sculpture but no true similarity.

FIGURE 20 ._
Detail of the Virgin and Child shown in Figure ''
!.
19 (photo: ACL, Brussels)

b 4 i .

FIGURE 21
Front view of the Metropolitan's Virgin C hi
and
Child from Diest, shown in Figure I

53
 ..
:"-
r...:.i
" /
'Vf"J. ' / A^^. ./
*....- ...

. I
* [-!.:

FIGURE 23 FIGURE 24
Virgin and mourners from a Crucifixion group. Annunciate Virgin. La Gleize (photo: ACL, Brus-
Church in Louviers, Normandy (photo: Archives sels)
Photographiques)

somewhat more flexible in posture, bending her right group in the church at Louviers in Normandy that
leg so that her knee projects with the affected move- can be attributed to the same workshop. The left-hand
ment more common to later fourteenth-century sculp- group shows the Virgin and St. John with the Holy
ture. The swing of her body to one side has some of Women (Figure 23), the right-hand group the Cen-
the exaggeration found in two Virgins of northern Lor- turion and the soldiers. The drapery style, the unusual
raine, at Longuyon and at Munster, and in another facial types of the women and the men, including the
Virgin at Saint-Sauveur-les-Bray. Her hands are softer soldiers, the carving of the hair, the modeling of the
and less stiff. She probably, therefore, was done at a hands, and even the position of John's extended right
later time. thumb, all of these features are exactly the same as in
All of the sculptures so far discussed are of marble, other scupltures of our group. In the companion group
but there are two large wood reliefs from a Crucifixion of the Centurion and soldiers there are also details of

54
the armor similar to those of the Huy Crucifixion group sculptures from Huy. The workshop is surely to be
in New York. The sculpture has been shown in at least located in the middle Meuse valley. Similar sculpture
four exhibitions since 93 I, the last time in Cleveland in and around Liege, Namur, and Huy, especially the
in I966-I967, and always labeled as French,"3 but Bethlehem portal, as well as the provenance of most of
there can be no doubt that it is by the same Mosan the pieces, prove this source.
workshop which produced the other sculptures of our The workshop was evidently not an isolated one,
group. Certainly the style of the Louviers reliefs is un- since there are other sculptures from the Meuse valley,
like other Norman or indeed other French sculpture, a number in the museums of Liege and Namur, that
and the comparisons to Crucifixion reliefs at St. Thi- have general similarities to those of our group. Among
bault in Burgundy or in the Van den Bergh Museum, them is a wood Annunciate Virgin from La Gleize
Antwerp, or to French ivory carvings, has no real (Figure 24) and two wood statues of Mark and Luke,
validity beyond a general similarity due to a contempo- all with many resemblances to our workshop in the
rary date.31 folds, the arrangements of the drapery, and the faces.
Our group can be ascribed to not more than two Other indications prove that the workshop was
masters probably active in the same workshop. One native to the Meuse valley. One finds the same widely
hand may have done the Diest, the Lille, and the two spaced bulging eyes, the wide mouth and double chin
Antwerp Madonnas, and another most of the smaller of the Virgin, and the same bearded male heads, not
sculptures, including the Museum's two Crucifixion only on the Bethlehem portal but appearing earlier on
sculpture of the Coronation of the Virgin from the
north porch of the collegiate church at Walcourt, now
in the Musee des Arts Anciens at Namur (Figure 25),
and on the Resurrection of Christ from the tympanum
of the church of the Holy Cross at Liege and now in the
Musee Diocesain of Liege.32
A curious and fascinating series of sculptures in
northern Italy are so close to those of our group that it
has been suggested by V6ge, Middeldorf, and Wein-
berger either that Mosan sculptors went to Italy or,
what is less likely, that some Italian sculptor trained in
the Meuse valley went back home.33 The angel and the
Virgin of an Annunciation in the cathedral baptistery

30. In 1931 in Rouen, in 1934 and 1950 in Paris, and in 1966-

1967 in Cleveland. See the catalogue of plates published with a
preface by Paul Vitry and with notices by Fernand Guey and Jean
Lafond, Expositiond'art religieuxancien,mai-juin 193r, ve centenaire
deJeanned'Arc (Rouen, 1932) pl. xxx of both reliefs; the catalogue
La PassiondeChristdansl'artfranfais(Paris, 1934) no. 52, illustrated,
at the Musee du Trocadero and the Sainte-Chapelle; the catalogue
La Viergedansl'artfranfais (Paris, 1950) no. 172, pl. 29, at the Petit
Palais; and the catalogue by William D. Wixom, Treasuresfrom
MedievalFrance(Cleveland, I967) no. VI-I3 on pp. 240 and 375.
31. See Exposition,Rouen, notice pp. 16, 5 1.
32. Devigne, Sculpture,pp. 5I, 6o, pls. xiv, xvi.
33. Voge, Jahrbuch,pp. 217-219. U. Middeldorf and M. Wein-
berger, "Franzosische Figuren des friihen I4. Jahrhunderts in
Toscana," PantheonI (1928) pp. I87-I90, and M. Weinberger,
FIGURE 25
"Remarks on the Role of French Models within the Evolution of
Coronation of the Virgin, from Walcourt. Musee Gothic Tuscan Sculpture," Romanesqueand GothicArt I (Inter-
des Arts Anciens, Namur (photo: ACL, Brussels) national Congress of the History of Art, New York, I963) p. 203.

55
 FIGURE 26 FIGURE 27
Gabriel and the Virgin of the Annunciation. Virgin and Child, from Pisa. State Museums,
Cathedral baptistery, Carrara Berlin, Inv. 2301

of Carrara (Figure 26) have many trademarks that There are also close connections between fourteenth-
ally them closely to the group: the sharply funneled century sculptures of the Meuse valley and those of the
columnar folds below the large pocket of drapery in region of Paris. Two of the most famous tombiers,or
front of the Virgin,34 the bent forefinger of the angel, tomb carvers, of the period working in France came
the flattened folds of his garment around his neck, and from the Meuse: Pepin de Huy and, later in the cen-
the drapery fall below his hand and his face. The Car- tury, Jean de Liege. It was Jean who carved the head
rara Virgin is comparable to the Annunciate Virgin of Marie de France, a daughter of Charles IV, which
now in Dayton and the CarraraJohn to the John of the comes from her lost funeral effigy in St. Denis and is
Crucifixion group in our Museum. The most definite now in the Museum (Figure 28). The face shows the
proof of the presence of a link between such Italian subtle modeling characteristic of this great Mosan
sculpture and the middle Meuse is given by a marble
Virgin and Child from Pisa, now in the Berlin Museum 34. Such abrupt vertical folds are typical of Mosan fourteenth-
century sculpture. See the statue of St. Christopher at Hannut, for
(Figure 27), which is clearly modeled after the Diest example. Devigne, Sculpture,pl. xiii.
and Antwerp Virgins.35 35. Voge, Jahrbuch,pp. 217, 2i8.

56
sculptor. The royal effigy of Charles IV, made about
the time of his death in 1328 for his tomb in the abbey
church of St. Denis (Figure 29), could well have been
carved by one of the Mosan sculptors then active in
Paris.36The sculpture has an arrangement of tubular
drapery folds similar to those hanging down below the
Child of the Diest Virgin; the eyes also show some
similarity.
Jeanne d'Evreux, the widow of Charles, was a great
patroness of the arts throughout most of the fourteenth
century. The statue of Notre-Dame-la-Blanche that
Jeanne d'1Evreuxordered in I340 for her chapel at
St. Denis and which is now at Magny-en-Vexin (Fig-
ures 30, 31) has a system of drapery folds similar to
those of the Diest Virgin and the effigy of Charles IV,
and it may also be by a Mosan sculptor.37The same
workshops could have produced such a marble Virgin
and the royal effigies, to judge by their similarities of
style.
Many other parallels exist between the Magny and
the Diest Virgins.38 The postures of both the Virgin
and the Child are similar. The Magny Virgin's hair has
the same kind of wave. The half-nude Child is carried

FIGURE 29
Charles IV. St. Denis (photo: Archives Photo-
graphiques)

the same way, and he also holds a bird on his left knee
pecking his finger. The Virgin's left forefinger is also
slightly flexed. She too has dimples at the bases of her
fingers where the joints should be. In her right hand
she also carries a rusticated stump of branch open at
the top, probably to receive a flowering staff, now

36. G. Briere and P. Vitry, L'Eglise de Saint-Denis(Paris, 1948)

pp. 79-80. M. Pierre Pradel of the Louvre has been studying the
oeuvre of Jean de Liege for many years.
37. Georges Huard, "Communication sur la Vierge de Magny-
en-Vexin," Bulletin de la Socilti nationaledes Antiquairesde France,
1938, seance du I6 fevrier, has conclusively identified this Virgin
after drawings by Lenoir made at the time of the Revolution. The
Virgin and Child now at St.-Germain-des-Pres, Paris, usually said
FIGURE 28 to be from St. Denis, he has proved to be from Notre-Dame, Paris.
Head of Marie de France, from St. Denis. The 38. Voge, Jahrbuch,p. 218, relates the Antwerp Virgin to the
Magny Virgin, and Baum, "Liitticher Bildnerkunst," p. I66,
Metropolitan Museum of Art, gift of George relates a Mosan Virgin and Child at St. Servatius, Liege, to the
Blumenthal, 41.1I 00. 132 Magny Virgin. The St. Servatius Virgin has a general resemblance
to the Diest Virgin.

57
Cn

a
-t i t~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~%~
'%*-
%. -

-
 FIGURE 30
Virgin and Child, from St. Denis. Church in
Magny-en-Vexin (photo: Archives Photogra-
phiques)

FIGURE 3I
Side view of the Virgin and Child shown in Fig-
ure 30 (photo: Claude Schaefer)

missing, which would perhaps have been made of reaches out to touch his mother's cheek, may have been
precious metal. The arrangement of the folds of her adopted from another French Madonna now in the
gown around her feet are quite similar to those of the Louvre, given to St. Denis byJeanne d'Evreux, a silver
Diest Virgin. The relative size of the Virgin's head to statuette made in I339.40 This iconography was ulti-
her body is the same in both statues. Surely the mately derived from Byzantine art through Italian
sculptor of the Diest Virgin knew either the Magny sources.
Virgin or one like her. The drapery formula of the Diest Virgin follows the
The fact that the Magny Virgin may have been pattern of the Magny Virgin but accentuates the ab-
carved by a Mosan sculptor in no way implies that it rupt transition between the large pocket fold of the
derives from earlier Mosan sculpture. On the contrary, cloak and the severely vertical columnar folds beneath.
it follows earlier French Virgins, such as the so-called A similar kind of exaggeration of a French model also
Virgin of Paris, now placed in the crossing of the occurs in Germanic sculpture at Freiburg, Strasbourg,
cathedral of Notre-Dame. The Magny Virgin was one and elsewhere.
of four or five statues which may be considered the Whatever foreign influences there were upon it, how-
archetypes for the great majority of French Madonnas ever, fourteenth-century Mosan sculpture had its
of the fourteenth century.89Two of the many Madonnas distinctive style. If the Meuse valley was no longer the
that may be said to follow in her train are in the Mu- dominating artistic center it had been in the twelfth
seum, one said to come from Cernay-les-Reims, and century, the great period of its enamelers and metal-
the other possiblyfrom southern France. It was natural, workers, it still could produce sculpture worthy of the
therefore, for the Diest sculptor to have been influenced name Mosan. Surely a province that supplied the
by so famous an archetype, made five years earlier. French capital with some of its leading sculptors was
The attitude of the Child of the Diest Virgin, who not deficient itself in the art.

39. The other archetypes certainly include the Virgin and 40. The inscription on the base of the statuette gives the donor
Child originally from a side portal and now within Notre-Dame, and date: "Cette ymage dona ceans ma dame la Reine Jehe
Paris, the Coutances Virgin, the Virgin from Notre-Dame now devreux, Royne de France et de Navarre, compaigne du Roy
at St.-Germain-des-Pres, and the silver statuette given by Jeanne Charles, le xxvii jour d'avril l'an McccxxxIX."
d'Evreux to St. Denis in I339, now in the Louvre.

59
 Ceremonial Arrowheads from Bohemia

HELMUT NICKEL

Curatorof ArmsandArmor,The MetropolitanMuseumof Art

AT A LONDONauction in November I966, the Metro- the two letters a and r, surmounted by a crown, from
politan Museum bought a richly decorated head of a which a tall ostrich feather emerges. The monogram
shafted weapon which had come from an English and the inner half of the feather are brass, as well as
private collection (Figures I, 2).1 Though its consider- the separate field beneath it, which bears a flowing
able size-its length is 12 e, inches or 30.6 centimeters scroll with the inscription mamylain Gothic letters. The
-would be adequate for a spearhead, its form, how- second flange is engraved on its top with a crown;
ever, clearly indicates that it is meant to be an oversize beneath it is a field with a scroll inscribed warvy/woka,
head of a crossbow bolt far too large for any bow. followed by another, smaller field with an a intertwined
Spears,javelins, and other polearms have their greatest crosswisewith an e, and finally a large letter t (?) set in
width at about the last third of the blade, while cross- an irregular space. On the reverse side the flange to the
bow bolts have their greatest width, for ballistic rea- left bears a large field charged with a letter x accompa-
sons, in the first third of their heads, which gives them nied by two small fleurs de lys, and surmounted by a
their characteristicblunt-nosed appearance (Figure 3). crown fleur-de-lysee; farther down, in a separate field,
Our bolt head is of steel, covered with deeply cut is a scroll inscribed ZdarZ/bvo[h].2The flange to the
engraving, and partially inlaid with brass. The brass right shows a field with an s formed out of fluttering
inlay is on one flange of the blade-emphasizing the ribbons under a crown; the lower part of the space is
most important part of the decoration, and thus giving filled with floral scrollwork.
the blade an obverse and reverse side-and on the The most conspicuous decoration on the socket is a
socket, where it consistsof four encircling bands of ever- pattern of rounded scales that appears on the upper
increasing width, and four strips set obliquely between part, engraved into the iron, and on the lowest, widest
the lower two bands to give a spiraling effect. brass ring. The uppermost and narrowest brass ring
The first flange of the blade bears a large monogram bears a scale pattern made of rectangular scales, identi-
somewhat like a Gothic w, but actually composed of cal to that on two of the narrow iron spaces showing

I. Sale, Sotheby's, London, November 7, I966, lot 127: A. A. ZeitschriftfuirHistorischeWaffenkundeNF 6 (1937-1939) pp. 218-
Lyster. "A rare and important Late Gothic arrow head... Central 221, and CharlesButtin, "La Fleche desJuges de Camp,"Armes
European, perhaps Bohemian, late I5th century." A note men- AnciennesI (I954) Part 3, pp. 57-64.
tions that seven more of these arrowheads are known in Budapest,
Vienna, and Munich. It further mentions the various theories as 2. The descriptionin the Sothebysales catalogueerroneously
to the original purposes of these giant arrowheads, as discussed in quotesZdarZdao,but neverthelessit is the firstsourcethatsuggests
articles byJohann von Kalmar, "Pfeilspitzen als Wiirdezeichen," the possibilityof a Bohemianoriginfor thesearrowheads.

6i

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve, and extend access to
Metropolitan Museum Journal ®
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 FIGURES I, 2 FIGURE 3
Ceremonial arrowhead, Bohemian, xv century. Spearhead of the bodyguard of Emperor Freder-
Steel inlaid with brass, engraved. L. I2 Ye in. ick III, South German or Austrian, about I460.
(30.6 cm.). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Steel with applied openwork decoration in brass.
Rogers Fund, 66.199 Waffensammlung des Kunsthistorischen Mu-
seums, Vienna, Inv. no. A 10

62
 FIGURE 4 (OPPOSITE) FIGURE 5
Side view of the Metropolitan Museum arrow- Mark engraved on the socket
head

between the spiraling brass strips on the wider part of a small circular mark carved into the upper part of
the socket. After a space filled with floral scrollwork, the socket; this emblem is known as the "Turkish
the second brass ring-twice as wide as the first-sits arsenal mark" (Figure 5).3 The only damage on the
at the beginning of the flare of the socket. It is engraved otherwise excellently preservedpiece is a large crescent-
twice mamyla,the space between the words filled with shaped notch in one of the edges at the greatest width
foliate scrolls. Beneath the part with the scale pattern of the blade.
the third brass ring-again approximately of double The inscriptions have been identified as pious invo-
width-is filled with floral scrolls repeating those on cations of God and the Virgin in medieval Czech:
the blade. The four spiraling brass strips farther down Zdarz buoh= "All hail, oh God"; maryapano = "Vir-
are alternately engraved with a similar foliate design, gin Mary"; mamyla= "my dear one"; warvylwoka
and the inscriptions maryalpano terminated by heraldic = varuj voka = "protect your eye."4 The letters m
roses (Figure 4). The same roses alternating with let- between the roses are certainly the initials of the name
ters m are to be found on two of the spaces between the Maria.
strips, the other two showing the already mentioned The interpretation of the monograms and the cy-
pattern of rectangular scales. A very wide brass ring phers is more difficult, and we must look at comparable
with scale pattern forms the foot of the socket. The rim objects before we attempt an explanation.
of the socket is pierced by a small hole on one side and There are eleven more of these decorated arrow-
an oblong slot on the opposite; these openings were for heads known, scattered among various museums.
nails or rivets to secure the head to a shaft. The slot Ours, though, is by far the largest and the most
seems to be a later alteration. Another later addition is extravagantly ornamented one of the whole group. The

3. The description in the Sotheby catalogue calls it the "Mam- be applied to our specific case very well; here a weapon picked up
luke arsenal mark." According to (jnsal Yiicel, Assistant Curator on a battlefield would be considered still usable, in spite of a
at the Topkapi Sarayi Museum, Istanbul, this mark is derived damaged edge. In any case, it has been established that this mark
was not only the mark of the Arsenal of St. Irene in Constantinople,
from the cattle brand Iy I of the Kayi, one of the twenty-four and Lenz mentions fifteenth-century coins marked with this symbol
Oghuz (Turkish) tribes of the twelfth century. It was used as a and the inscription "minted in Adrianople."
tribal symbol on tents, flags, and Ottoman coins, the earliest
example known minted by Sultan Orkhan, 1326-1327. It was 4. For the interpretations of the Czech inscriptions I am greatly
used with increasing frequency during the fifteenth and sixteenth indebted to Dr. Marica Vilcek, The Metropolitan Museum of
centuries, but is not found after the seventeenth century. It is used Art; Dr. Vladimir Denkstein, Director of the National Museum
on all sorts of weapons and armor, but not on firearms, the only in Prague; Dr. Ivan Hlavtacek,Docent for Art History and Archive
exception being a cannon dated 1522. The Ottomans claimed Studies at the University Karlovy, Prague; Professor Dr. Jaromir
descent from the Kayi tribe. In Mr. Yiicel's opinion these ancient Neumann, Director of the Institute for Fine Arts, Academy of
tribal marks might have been revived by some statesmen of Kayi Sciences, Prague. Professor Neumann suggested "Schiitze dein
origin during periods when national feelings were particularly Auge" as translation for warvylwoka in our correspondence
strong, as for instance after the defeat of the Mongols (I402), and conducted in German; according to Dr. Marica Vilcek it has a
in the time of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent (1520-I 566). certain double meaning that could be expressed in English as
Eduard von Lenz, "Arsenalzeichen oder Beschau?" ZHWK 6 either "Protect your eye, or Bless your eye" or "Beware of the eye
(I912-1914) pp. 299-303, suggests that the "arsenal mark" might [of God]." Dr. Denkstein suggested the possibility that woka
be a proof mark. He points out that it looks like a simplified version might be a form of the ancient Bohemian personal name Vok or
Wok, particularly popular during the fourteenth and fifteenth
of the proof mark ( imtichan= "fit," stamped on barrels of centuries. If this was the case, perhaps the two inscriptions on the
Turkish firearms of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. obverse side were thought to be connected: mamyla-warvyfwoka =
Furthermore, Lenz mentions that most of the objects stamped with "my dear [Virgin Mary]-protect Wok." This would lead to the
conclusion that someone named Wok was the original owner of
(i) have old repairs. Therefore the proof mark theory could the arrowhead. Dr. Hlavacek suggested the reading swarnywogak-
"beloved soldier," which again could be connected with mamyla.

63
 . I

io

. i.

FIGURES 6, 7 FIGURES 8, 9
Ceremonial arrowhead, Bohemian, xv century. Ceremonial arrowhead, Bohemian, xv century.
Steel, engraved. L. 115 mm. Bayerisches Natio- Steel, engraved, reverse side blank. L. 107 mm.
nal-Museum, Munich, no. w 309 Hungarian National-Museum, Budapest

others have been published in two articles by Dr. each of three different Austrian collections-the Waf-
Janos Kalmar, former curator of the Hungarian Na- fensammlung in Vienna, the Tiroler Landesmuseum
tional-Museum-Magyar Nemzeti Muzeum-in Bu- Ferdinandeum in Innsbruck, and the collection of
dapest,5 but our piece had escaped the attention of Count Wilczek in Castle Kreuzenstein. Furthermore
scholars until its appearance in the auction catalogue. there is one in the Bayerische National-Museum in
The National-Museum in Budapest has in its col- Munich, and the last one was published in 1896 as
lections no less than three of them; three more are in being in a private collection in Budapest, but since then
local Hungarian museums-the Bakony Museum in it has vanished without a trace.
Veszprem, the Balaton Museum in Keszthely, and the The one with the most elaborate decoration, next to
Municipal Museum in Pecs (Funfkirchen). One is in ours, is the arrowhead in Munich (Figures 6, 7). Its
blade is covered on either side with floral scrollwork
5. Kalmar, "Pfeilspitzen," pp. 218-22I; Janos Kalmar, "Arm-
als Rangabzeichen"FoliaArchaeologica
brust-Pfeilspitzen 9 (1957) carved into sharply defined sunken fields; the sinister
pp. 153-166. Since publication in the Sotheby sales catalogue our flanges bear scrolls, inscribed mamylapan and mamyla
arrowhead has been illustrated in Connoisseur 164, no. 659 (January panny= "my dear Virgin" and "my dear Lady." The
1967) p. 56, fig. 9; The MetropolitanMuseum of Art Bulletin 26
(1967) no. 2, p. 53; and Art at Auction,The Yearat Sotheby's& Parke- reading is made difficult by the artist's use of con-
Beret, 1966-1967 (New York, 1967) p. 404. tractions of letters, such as in my and ny. The slightly

64
 ter v under an identical crown, and a tiny broad-arrow
-/ '-{^&~.- khead at its foot. Its socket is covered with a carefully
ae~ :?A , scale pattern; the base of the socket is encircled
f;f ,' '~ 1^^drawn a wide band filled with a zigzag pattern.7
Lby
:JI&f^^^B~-iBtl^Bl The second Budapest piece (Figures o, 1 I) is much
,^"riR^^^BC s ^simpler in appearance, but its size-length 104 mm.,
width I8 mm.-is nearly identical with the first one.
Again the blade is decorated on one side only; its
dexter flange bears a large symbol, unfortunately too
much worn for definite identification, though a very
.iF^^B
IBS^^B1 ~stylized plumed crown seems to be part of the design.
The sinister flange bears a large letter dsurmounted by
the plumed crown; at its foot is something that might
fu^ ^^l|! be an s. The socket is encircled by a crudely cut double
if^-^
tC^^Brring at its base, and two rows of scales higher up.8
The third Budapest specimen is of totally different
:lH^s rl' Bform (Figures 12, I 3). Its triangular outline and sharp
i^^H i*i abarbs are those of a broad-arrow. On one sinister

7. Kalmar, "Pfeilspitzen," fig. 5; Kalmar, "Armbrust-Pfeil-

spitzen," pl. 25, fig. 2.
8. Kalmar, "Pfeilspitzen," fig. 3; Kalmar, "Armbrust-Pfeil-
spitzen," pl. 25, fig. I.

FIGURES 12, 13
FIGURES 10, II Ceremonial barbed arrowhead, Bohemian, xv
Ceremonial arrowhead, Bohemian, xv century. century. Steel, engraved, reverse side blank.
Steel, engraved, reverse side blank. L. I04 mm. Hungarian National-Museum, Budapest
Hungarian National-Museum, Budapest

conical socket is engraved with spiraling bands similar. -

to those on our piece; they are decorated alternately
with scale pattern and the inscription mmmm.6 With its
length of 15 mm. and width of 20 mm., it is just a
little more than one third the size of the Metropolitan
Museum's specimen.
The first Budapest arrowhead (Figures 8, 9) is of
about the same size, length 107 mm., width 22 mm.
Its blade is engraved on one side only; the dexter flange
with a letter a in a rectangular field under a stylized --

crown and surmounted by a stiff ostrich feather; at the

bottom of the flange is carved a small object shaped like
a heart or a linden-leaf. The sinister flange has a let-

6. Kalmar, "Pfeilspitzen," fig. 6 a. b; Kalmar, "Armbrust-

Pfeilspitzen," pl. 25, figs. 6, 7; the inscriptions of the Munich
arrowhead are interpreted as "manilia p[ro] amo[re]."

65
 letter I or i surmounted by a very stylized ostrich feather,
composed of a double row of punchmarks, on its sinis-
ter flanges. The arrowhead in Keszthely was found
near the village of Csabrendek, four kilometers from
the Castle Siimeg, and it is very likely to be the one
illustrated in Szendrei's Ungarische Kriegsgeschichtliche
Denkmdlerxlas a so-called Hussiten-Pfeil (Hussite arrow),
and mentioned as being "inscribed with the numeral
I" and found near Castle "Stimegh" (Figure I7).
Of rather similar appearance is the arrowhead from
Castle Kreuzenstein (Figure I8). Its length is I117 mm.;
its width 17 mm. Its only decoration is a letter s sur-
mounted by an elegantly drawn crown and triangular
punchmarks arranged in two rows in the lower part of
the blade.12

FIGURE 14 I . Kalmar, "Armbrust-Pfeilspitzen," figs. 31 a, b; 32 b, c;

Ceremonial arrowhead, Johann Szendrei, UngarischeKriegsgeschichtliche Denkmalerin der
Bohemian, xv century. Steel, Millenniums-Landes-Ausstellung(Budapest, I896) ill. p. 291.
I2. Kalmar, "Pfeilspitzen," fig. 2, shows eight punchmarks;
engraved, reverse side blank.
Kalmar, "Armbrust-Pfeilspitzen," fig. 31 d, shows seven marks.
L. I I o mm. Waffensamm-
'
lung, Vienna, Inv. no. A 50
FIGURE 15

flange it has a large letter a surmounted by a plumed Ceremonial arrowhead, Bohemian, xv century.
crown; further down a few incised lines continue the Steel, engraved, reverse side blank. L. 114 mm.
decoration, half obliterated by corrosion. The octago- Bakony Museum, Veszprem. After Kalmar
nal socket and the reverse side of the blade are blank
without any decoration.9 FIGURE i6

The arrowhead in Vienna (Figure 14) bears on its Ceremonial arrowhead. Bohemian, xv century.
decorated side a t surmounted by a single stiff ostrich Steel, engraved, reverse side blank. L. I15 mm.
feather on the dexter flange, and on the sinister a d Balaton Museum, Keszthely. After Kalmar
surmounted by a crown, above a small s in a separate
FIGURE 17
field; at the foot of either flange are triangular figures
that might be representations of arrowheads too. Its Hussiten-Pfeil found near Castle Siimeg. After
conical socket is covered with rather a carelessly execut- Szendrei
ed scale pattern. It is I Io mm. in length, and in width
20 mm.10
X
Nearly identical are the two specimens from the
Balaton Museum in Keszthely, and the Bakony Mu- Lfk i1
seum in Veszprem (Figures 15, I6). The latter is 114
mm. in length, while the former measures I115 mm. and
18 mm. Each is without any decoration except a large it I ;I

9. Kalmar, "Pfeilspitzen," fig. i; Kalmar, "Armbrust-Pfeil-

II i
spitzen," pi. 25-,fig. 3.
io. Kalmar, "Pfeilspitzen," fig. 4; Kalmar, "Armbrust-Pfeil-
kI
spitzen," pl. 25, fig. 5.
I L
66
 A
r.

1.

j i
r?i.

D
I

.1 4
p
I

i O I

" .

i .
I, I
i I

FIGURE i8 FIGURE 20
Ceremonial arrowhead, Bohemian, xv century. Ceremonial arrowhead, probably Bohemian,
Steel, with engraved and punched decoration, xiv-xv century. Steel, partially plated with brass,
reverse side blank. L. 17
I mm. Collection of engraved, the steel parts heavily corroded. Mu-
Count Wilczek, Burg Kreuzenstein. After Kal- nicipal Museum, Pecs (Fiinfkirchen). After Kal-
mar mar

FIGURE 19 FIGURE 2
Ceremonial arrowhead, probably Bohemian, xv Ceremonial arrowhead, possibly Bohemian, xv
century. Steel inlaid with brass, engraved. For- century. Steel, with punched decoration, partial-
merly in the collection of Paul Jedlicska, Buda- ly gilded. L. 73 mm., with shaft 39 cm. Tiroler
pest, present whereabouts unknown. After Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum, Innsbruck, Inv.
Szendrei no. ES 36

Known only from the above-mentioned Ungarische was less common, but far from unusual-and the
KriegsgeschichtlicheDenkmdler13is an arrowhead that, octagonal neck is coated with brass, engraved with
though it is there listed as "Oriental," without doubt alternating bands of angular scales and patterns of
must have belonged to this group (Figure I9). Its blade oblique stripes. Its blade is unfortunately too corroded
seems to have been engraved all over, apparently in a for the identification of any decoration, though its
fashion similar to the Munich specimen, and on its general shape is still recognizable.tl
sinister flange it had a large inlay of brass. Two bands The specimen in Innsbruck, finally (Figure 21), is
of brass were at the neck of the socket.
The arrowhead from Pecs (Fiinfkirchen) is technical- 13. Szendrei, Denkmdler,pp. 137, I38, fig. 353; the arrowhead
is mentioned as "Bolzeneisen, orientalisch," and as being in the
ly different (Figure 20). It has a tang for insertion into collection of Paul Jedlicska. Budapest.
the shaft instead of a socket-a way of mounting that 14. Kalmar, "Armbrust-Pfeilspitzen," pl. 25, fig. 4.

67
 FIGURE 22

Pavise, Bohemian (Chomutov), 1441. Pinewood,

covered with leather and canvas, painted black
and red on a silvered background; central motive
of a lettery in a sunburst, surmounted by a plume
ofostrich feathersin a crown, the arms of Zwickau
added later. The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
BashfordDean Memorial Collection, funds from
various donors, 29.158.595

considerably smaller than the others just mentioned;

its length is only 73 mm., not more than an ordinary
crossbow bolt. It is practically without any socket, and
its blade is lozenge-shaped in section, coming to a sharp
point abruptly at the last quarter of its length. With the
1
exception of the first third, at the point, the head is
gilded, and decorated with letters b surrounded by
scrollwork on all four flanges. The decoration is not
engraved like that on the other arrowheads, but is
stamped by means of rows of closely set punchmarks.
The head is still fitted to its shaft, bearing remnants of
its fletching with white feathers; the total length of the
bolt is 39 cm.15
It is evident from this list that there is a strong family
likeness between these arrowheads, with the possible
exception of the Innsbruck specimen. It is even likely
that some of them have common workshops: the first
Budapest piece and the Vienna piece; the second and
the third Budapest pieces; and again the specimens
from the Bakony Museum and Balaton Museum.
Seven of them display a letter or a monogram sur-
mounted by an ostrich feather or a crown as the main
feature of their decoration, one-the Innsbruck piece
-has a letter without plume or crown, another one has
inscriptions in medieval Czech, and the two remaining
ones have their iron parts too badly corroded for pos-
sible identification of cyphers, but their surviving
decoration of scale patterns or floral scrollwork of a
distinctive type on their brassinlays is shared by at least
four others in the group.
An examination of the cyphers represented on these
arrowheads reveals a re-occurrence of certain letters.
Two of the Budapest specimens bear an a, one of them
in addition to a v, the third one has a d, with an ad-

5. Kalmar, "Armbrust-Pfeilspitzen," fig. 31 e.

68
ditional small s. The Vienna piece has a d above an s
too, though its main cypher is a t under an ostrich
feather. Letters I or i under stylized feathers are on the
two arrowheads in Keszthely and Veszprem; the one
in Kreuzenstein has an s, the one in Innsbruck b, and
the Munich specimen mmmmbesides invocations of the
Virgin Mary in Czech. On our own piece we find ar,
ae intertwined, t, X, S, and m, in addition to religious
invocations (see drawings on the following pages).
The country of origin thus being established by the
reading of the Czech inscriptions, it seems obvious that
one should look out for possible equivalents of the
device of the ostrich feather surmounting a monogram-
matic letter in the decorative arts, and preferably on
arms, of Bohemia. In the Metropolitan Museum's col-
lection we have a pavise painted with ay in a sunburst
surmounted by a crown and ostrich plume (Figure 22).
It is one of a group of shields from the armory of the
town of Zwickau in Saxony, which bought it from the
North Bohemian town of Chomutov (Komotau),
famous for its shieldmakers' shops, in I44I.16 Out of
the twelve surviving pieces of this sale there are no less
than seven painted with a feather-and-letter device;
five more have single letters as important parts of their
decoration. There are more than sixty pavises of
Bohemian origin known, and twenty-two of them are
charged with monograms; it might be worth mention-
ing here that this use of monograms on shields was

I6. Alfons Diener von Sch6nberg, "Setzschilde der Stadt

Zwickau aus der Werkstatt eines Schildmachers von Komotau
1441," ZHWKNF 8 (1944) pp. 45-56; Vladimir Denkstein, "Die
Zwickauer Pavesen bohmischen Ursprungs," SachsischeHeimat-
blatter(1958) no. 9; Vladimir Denkstein, "Pavezy ceskeho typu"
("Pavises of the Bohemian Type"), SbornikNdrodnihoMuseav Praze
-Acta Musei Nationalis Pragae series A, Historia, 16 (1962) nos.
4-5; i8 (1964) nos. 3-4; 19 (1965) nos. 1-5, with full translation
in English. Within Denkstein's "Pavezy," the most comprehensive
and authoritative work about pavises, the Zwickau group is treated FIGURE 23
in: I6, nos. 21, 24-26, 34, 35, 37-4I, 43; 19, PP. I40-I41, I70-177, Pavise, Bohemian (Chomutov), I441. Wood,
no. 51.
covered with leather and canvas, painted black
In 1923 the teacher and local historian Kurt Vogel found two
entries in the town accounts of Zwickau, dated I44I, concerning and red on a silvered background; central motive
the commission of 40 pavises from Chomutov (Komotau) for the of a monogram ar in a sunburst, surmounted by
price of 14 groschen each: "Item wir habin vordingit czu machin a plume of ostrich feathers in a crown, the arms
eyn von Komethaw payssin XL und sullin om ye vor ayne gebin
xiII gli ... dedimus sibi xx gl ... etiam dedimus sibi n sso gl by
of Zwickau added later. Armouries, H. M. Tower
nickeljocoff." Stadtrechnung 1437-I446, fol. io8 a. An additional of London, Inv. no. V/2. British Crown Copy-
payment was made to have the town's arms added: "Item dedimus right
viIIsso gl vor XLpayfossin, dy man hat lossin czu komethaw machin,
mit der stad czeichin geczeichint." Stadtrechnung, fol. I Iob.

69
 AN?

1 2 3 4 5 6

9 10

7 8

MONOGRAMS ON
ARROWHEADS
~
1, 2. Letter a, Budapest I and III.Probabiy
for Albrecht

\4 f^? 3. Combined letters a and r, Metropolitan

IM Museum. Poal
Probably for Albertus Rex
4. Intertwinedletters a and e, Metropolitan
_M Psb
Museum. Possibly fo Albrecht
for A and Elisa-
11 12 beth
13 14 5, 6. Letters I, Veszprem and Keszthely.
Probablyfor Ladislas
7, 8. Letters d above s, Budapest II and
Vienna
9, 10. Letters m, MetropolitanMuseum and
Ff Munich. ForMaria
) 3, ,\ ~ 11. Letter S, Kreuzenstein. Probably for
Sigismund
12. LetterS, MetropolitanMuseum
13, 14. Letters t, Vienna and Metropolitan
Museum

16 17
16. LetterX, MetropolitanMuseum. Proba-
bly for Christus
17. Letterb, Innsbruck

70
 I

^ ^_ii / __F . __

1 3i 5 6

10
7 8

11 12 13 15

MONOGRAMS ON PAVISES
AND OTHER OBJECTS

1. Lettera, Turin. Probablyfor Albrecht

2. Combined letters a and r, London.Proba-
bly for Albertus Rex
rI~I
,

3, 4. Letters W, Prague and Warsaw. For

/Y WladislawJagiello
I::A
II.
5. Letter k, spurs in Vienna. For Kasimir
6. Letterk, Prague. Possibly for Kasimir
16 17
7, 8, 9. Letters S, Berlin, New York,Warsaw.
Probablyfor Sigismund
10. Letterb, Vienna. Possibly for Boleslav
11, 12, 13. MonogramChristi ihs, Warsaw,
New York,Brno
14. Letter y, Metropolitan Museum and
Zwickau. ForYhesus-Jesus
15. Letter g, Veste Coburg. For Girzy-
George
16, 17, 18. Letters m, Paris and Dresden.
19 ForMaria
19. Letter v, Paris. Possibly for Vaclav-
Wenceslas

7I
 FIGURE 25
Pavise, Bohemian (Chomutov), 1441. Wood,
covered with leather and canvas, painted with an
armored standard bearer in the upper field, and
a letter a in the lower. On border, inscriptions in
archaic Czech. The arms of Zwickau added later.
Armeria Reale, Turin, Inv. no. F I

FIGURE 24
Pavise, Bohemian (Chomutov), I441. Wood,
covered with leather, painted black and red on a
silvered background; central motive of a mono-
gram of Christ, ihs, surmounted by a crown and
six ostrich feathers, the arms of Zwickau added
later. The original inscription on the upper bor-
der obliterated in an earlier restoration. Col-
lection of Carl Otto Kretzschmarvon Kienbusch,
New York

72
 FIGURE 26

Design on pavise no. 1379, Museum of the

Polish Army, Warsaw. The escutcheons with
the cross and the W added later. Around
the border, a German inscription

FIGURE 27
Design on pavise no. 1380, Museum of the
Polish Army, Warsaw. The escutcheon with
the cross and the W added later. Around the
border, a German inscription

practically unknown in the rest of Europe during the Three pavises-one in the former Zeughaus in Berlin,22
fifteenth century.17 the one in the Tower, and the one of the Kienbusch
Virtually identical in design with our pavise is one collection-have a letter s in a separate field at the foot
of the four still kept by the City Museum of Zwickau, of the shield; another one-in the Armeria Reale in
its lettery in a sunburst topped by a plume springing Turin, Italy (Figure 25)-has there a letter a.23 All of
from a jeweled clasp.18 Two of the Zwickau group- them have scale-patterned backgrounds.
one still in Zwickau, the other one in the Musee de Two similar pavises that do not belong to the
Cluny in Paris-bear the letter m under a feathered Chomutov-Zwickau group are now in the Army Mu-
crown; another one in the Musee de Cluny has a v seum-Muzeum Wojska polskiego-in Warsaw; one
under feathers.19 One in the Armouries of the Tower of of them bears the feathered crown, and in a separate
London (Figure 23) bears the same monogram ar that field below, a letter s between two arms in long-flowing
is found on the Metropolitan Museum arrowhead;20 sleeves reaching down out of stylized clouds (Figure
the pavise of the Kienbusch collection in New York 26). The other one has the monogram of Christ, ihs, in
(Figure 24) has a similar design, but with a badly worn a sunburst surmounted by the feathered crown, which
monogram of Christ, ihs, in its central medallion.21 is this time issuing two wings erect (Figure 27). Both

17. To my knowledgethere is only one example of a non- 19. Denkstein, "Pavezy," Sborniki6 (I962) nos. 25, 40, 41.
Bohemian shield of the fifteenth century emblazoned with a 20. Diener von Schonberg, "Setzschilde," p. 54, not illustrated;
monogrammaticletter. This is a small pavisein the collectionof quotes description by Sir Guy Francis Laking, A Recordof European
Mr. CarlOtto Kretzschmarvon Kienbusch,New York;the piece ArmourandArms (London, 1920) II, p. 241; Denkstein, "Pavezy,"
is painted red overall; in its upper part appear, between small SbornikI6 (1962) no. 35.
sunbursts,the three white swansof the city armsof Zwickau;in 21. Diener von Schonberg, "Setzschilde," pl. 3, fig. 14; Denk-
the lower part is a large Gothic h in black. The meaningof the stein, "Pavezy," SbornikI6 (1962) no. 38; vonKienbuschCollection,
letter is unknown,perhapsan abbreviationof Hilfgott= "Help, no. 282, pl. 87.
O God,"a favoriteinvocation.The Bohemianinfluenceis obvious. 22. Diener von Schonberg, "Setzschilde," pl. 4, fig. 12; Denk-
TheKretzschmar vonKienbusch Collection
ofArmor andArms(Princeton, stein, "Pavezy," Sbornik16 (1962) no. 21. This pavise is now in the
1963) no. 281, pl. 87. collections of the Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin.
I8. Diener von Sch6nberg,"Setzschilde,"pl. I, fig. 3; Denk- 23. Diener von Schonberg, "Setzschilde," pl. 2, fig. 7; Denk-
stein, "Pavezy," Sborniki6 (1962) no. 26. stein, "Pavezy," Sborniki6 (I962) no. 43.

73
 shields have small escutcheons with a cross of St.
George and the letter W painted on later, in the same
way as the Zwickau shields had their city arms added.24
Still another pavise, in the Historisches Museum in
Dresden (Figure 28), has a letter m surmounted by a
crown, flanked by two wings erect. The shield is party
red and black, the wings counterchanged. Though no
ostrich feathers are present, the wings it shares with the
Warsaw pavise (Figure 27) indicate that it is part of the
same iconographical group.25
In attempting to interpret the cyphers and mono-
grams found on ceremonial arrowheads it seems to be
advisable to examine them in connection with those on
pavises, especially since some of them appear on both
types of objects.
ihs The most easily recognizable symbol is the
monogram of Christ, ihs, which appears on at least half
a dozen Bohemian pavises (Figures 24, 27).26
y Sometimes this monogram was spelledyhs,27 and
therefore it seems to be safe to assume that the lettery

24. Denkstein, "Pavezy," SbornikI6 (I962) nos. 44, 45. The W

is in the form used by Wladislaw Jagiello, King of Poland, Bo-
hemia, and Hungary (147 I- 5 6), as his monogram; compare the
escutcheon on the balcony in the cathedral of St. Vitus, Prague.
For WladislawJagiello and all other kings of Bohemia during the
fifteenth century, see Wilhelm Karl Prinz von Isenburg, Stamm-
tafelnzur Geschichtedereuropaischen Staaten,2nd rev. ed. (Marburg,
1953) I, pl. 25. The cross, red on a white field, is nearly identical in
shape with those on the banners of the crusaders fighting the
Hussites illustrated in the Jena Codex, Sign. Iv B 24, an early six-
teenth-century manuscript. See Vladimir Denkstein, Die revolu-
tionare Hussitenbewegung,Exhibition of the National Museum,
Prague, in the Museum fur deutsche Geschichte, Berlin, 1958, no.
442. These pavises have German inscriptions around their borders,
though they follow the Bohemian pattern in their decoration; from
this it seems to be possible that they were used in one of the German-
speaking towns of Bohemia, which were opposed to the national-
istic Czech Hussites. The emblem on pavise Figure 26 could be
related to an armorial shield: Gules, a crown or issuant two arms
with clasped hands proper, sculptured on the faCade of the City
Hall of Prague. According to kind information by Dr. Denkstein
these armorial shields (I9) are presumably the arms of the mem-
bers of the city council of the period, when the City Hall was built,
about 1470, but no documentary proof of any kind is available.
25. Denkstein, "Pavezy," SbornikI6 (1962) nos. 28, 45.
26. Denkstein, "Pav6zy," Sbornik i6 (1962) nos. 38, 45; 19
FIGURE 28
(1965) nos. 47, 60, 63, 65.
Pavise, Bohemian, thought to be from the army 27. A roughly contemporaneous example is on the crozier of
of King Wenceslas IV, about I390. Wood, St. Wolfgang in the St. Wolfgang altarpiece by Michael Pacher,
covered with leather and canvas, painted red and 1471-I481. See Bruno Grimschitz, Ars Austriae (Vienna, I960)
fig. 83. Another one is in the print St. Bernhardin of Siena by the
black with a crowned letter in gold. Historisches Master E.S.; see Max Geisberg, Die Kupferstichedes MeistersE.S.
Museum, Dresden, N 33/Ehrt. A 56 (Berlin, 1924) pl. 98.

74
on the Metropolitan Museum's pavise (Figure 22) and shape of arrowheads that are engraved on the same
its twin in Zwickau is supposed to be the initial of pieces are at least strong hints in this direction.
Thesus = Jesus. t Appears under a single ostrich feather on the
m The letters m on our arrowhead and the one in Vienna arrowhead (Figure I4). If the fact that it is
Munich (Figures I, 2, 4, 6, 7) are certain to stand for preservedin Vienna can be considered to be more than
Maria, as it is confirmed by the invocations of Mary a coincidence, it is interesting that the Historical Mu-
engraved on them. The letter m emblazoned on three seum of the City of Vienna has a number of pavises
pavises28probably had the same meaning. It has been with Hungarian, Bohemian, and Moravian arms in its
suggested that these letters m were the monogram of collection, which were apparently left behind by the
Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary and titular King troops of Matthias Corvinus on their withdrawal from
ofBohemia ( 470-1490), but since two out of these three Vienna in 1490. Three of these pavises bear the arms of
shields bear the Zwickau arms, they would have been the bishopric ofOlomouc (Olmiitz), and one the arms
made around I440, long before Matthias' time. of the Boskovic family. Taso of Boskovic, Bishop of
W Definitely royal monograms are the letters W Olomouc, was a staunch supporter of Matthias Cor-
on a pavise in the National Museum in Prague29and vinus, and a military leader in his campaigns against
the two pavises in Warsaw; this particular form of W Austria. The t on the Vienna arrowhead (Figure I4)
was used by Wladislaw Jagiello, King of Poland and could be the monogram of Bishop Taso, though it
Bohemia (I47I-I5I6).24 should be pointed out that none of the surviving
s The possibility of its being a royal monogram Moravian pavises is emblazoned with an ostrich plume,
instead of that of a protective saint is especially strong though Moravia was part of the kingdom of Bohemia.30
with the letters s that appear on the arrowhead in If this explanation for the t on the Vienna arrowhead
Castle Kreuzenstein (Figure I8), and on one of the were accepted, it would not shed any light on the mean-
Warsaw pavises (Figure 26). Here it might well be that ing of the t on the front side of our arrowhead (Figure I).
this s stands for Emperor Sigismund, who was King of b One of the Moravian pavises in Vienna bears the
Bohemia from I4I9 to I437. The alternative would be letter b surmounted by a crown in its main field. This
the initial of St. Sebastian, patron saint of archers, but b has been thought to be the monogram of Taso of
he seems to have played an important role only in the Boskovic'spredecessor,BohuslavofZvole ( 454-1457),
archers'guilds of Western Europe-in Bohemia he was if not the initial of Taso's family name.3 Whether there
apparently far less popular. On the other hand, these is any connection between this b surmounted by a
monogrammatic letters must not necessarily have had crown on this Moravian pavise, and the b on the Inns-
the same meaning in all cases. In particular, the letter bruck arrowhead (Figure 2I) with its atypical deco-
s is sometimes used in quite inconspicuous places, such ration, remains an open question.
as on the second Budapest arrowhead (Figure Io) or on a The letter a is one of the most frequently en-
the Vienna piece (Figure 14), that make an explanation countered on decorated arrowheads, either alone or in
difficult. combinations with other letters. Singly we find it on
X This letter engraved as a dominant feature of the barbed arrowhead in Budapest (Figure I2); side by
the reverse side of our arrowhead might be the ab- side with a v on the first Budapest piece (Figure 8); and
breviation of Christus,commonly spelled xpius during combined with an r and intertwined with an e on our
the fifteenth century (Figure 2). arrowhead (Figure i). The monogram ar on our ar-
d Letters d appear on the Vienna arrowhead (Fig- rowhead is paralleled by a practically identical one on
ure 14) and one of the Budapest pieces (Figure IO), the pavise V/2 in the Tower of London (Figure 23).
each one with a small s at its foot. Perhaps the letters s This pavise is one of the lot sold to Zwickau by the
could have something to do with the Czech words for
crossbow or archer, samostiilor stielec. If this was the
case, could they possibly be Gothic versions of the Ro- 28. Denkstein, "Pavezy," SbornikI6 (I962) nos. 25, 28, 41.
man numeral D = "500," thus indicating a captain 29. Denkstein, "Pavezy," SbornikI6 (I962) nos. 2, 44, 45.
30. Denkstein, "Pavezy," Sbornik19 (I965) pp. 184-i89.
over five hundred archers? The small symbols in the 3I. Denkstein, "Pav6zy," Sbornik19 (I965) pp. I87-188, no. 57.

75
shieldmakers of Chomutov in 144I, and the similarity
of the emblems suggests that our arrowhead must be of
about the same date. This cypher cannot be explained
as the monogram of a saint, but if it is assumed to be
a royal emblem, the only king of Bohemia during the
fifteenth century with the initial a was Albrecht of
Austria (1437-I439), who came to the title after the
death of his father-in-law, Emperor Sigismund, though
he had been actually regent since 1423. Our mono-
gram ar might well be an abbreviation of Albertus
Rex, and the letters a on the Budapest arrowheads,
and on one of the Zwickau pavises, now in the Armeria
Reale in Turin (Figure 25),32could be the initial of his
name. The remaining cypher on our arrowhead-an a
and e intertwined-is temptingly similar to the com-
bined initials of married couples of the period, and it is
even more so because the name of Albrecht's wife was
Elisabeth. Albrecht spent most of his life fighting
enemies from outside, such as the Turks, or from inside,
such as the revolutionary Hussites, and this extraor-
dinary military activity seems to be reflected in the fact
that the letter a is so frequent a monogram on Bo-
hemian arms. The monogram ar on the Tower shield
indicates that it was apparently made shortly before
Albrecht's sudden death, and presumably the shield-
maker was glad to have the opportunity to throw this
unsold piece with the outdated royal cypher in with
the sale to Zwickau in 144I. FIGURE 29
v The v side-by-side with an a-both under plumed Silver collar, insigne of rank for the Schiitzenkinig,
crowns-on the first Budapest arrowhead (Figure 8) is German, xv century. Museum des Kunsthand-
very difficult to explain. Perhaps it was supposed to be werks, Leipzig, Inv. no. 408
a title-vojvod = "prince"-or the initial of the patron
saint of Bohemia, St. Wenceslas, in its Czech form as
Vdclav.The latter explanation might apply to the v thely and Veszprem-appear letters under a very
under a plume of five feathers on a pavise in the Musee stylized plume (Figures 15, I6) that could be read
de Cluny, Paris.33 either I for Ladislas, or i possibly for Jiii-the Czech
i or I The son of King Albrecht and Queen Elisa- form of George. This could be the knightly saint who
beth was Ladislas, surnamed Posthumus, for he was was very popular in Bohemia,34 but perhaps even
born after his father's death. He was king of Bohemia George of Podiebrad, who was regent for Ladislas, and
from 1453 until 1457. On two arrowheads-in Kesz- in I458 became elected king himself.

32. Szendrei, Denkmaler,no. 56I; reads letter as w. Walter Rose 34. Out of twenty-five pavises with figural decoration illustrat-
"Die deutschen and italienischen schwarzen (grossen) Garden im ed in Denkstein's "Pavezy," sixteen have representations of
15. und i6. Jahrhundert," ZHWK 6 (1912-1914) pp. 73-97; St. George. It might be held against the interpretation of this letter
mentions the Turin pavise on p. 77, but interprets the letter as as an i = Jiri, however, that the two pavises that bear invocations
monogram of King Wenceslas IV. Denkstein, "Pavezy," Sbornik of St. George are using the spelling girzy (nos. 3, 27), and the pavise
I6 (1962) no. 43; describes it as "Gothic letter (minuscule a?)." in Veste Coburg (no. 27) has a large monogrammatic g surmount-
33. Denkstein, "Pavezy," Sborniki6 (1962) no. 40; 19 (1965) ing its representation of the dragon-slayer. An added escutcheon
p. 173. with the arms of Coburg indicates that this pavise has been used in

76
 Most of the cyphers surmounted by ostrich feathers and sword slashes), a type of shield principally designed
that are found on shields can be interpreted as symbols for the protection of crossbowmen;37 for this reason it
of religious significance, but those on the arrowheads should be safe to conclude that these decorated ar-
seem to be royal monograms, or initials of a com- rowheads were badges of command for captains of
mander or warlord. This must be the result of these ar- crossbowmen.
rowheads' being personal insignia whereas the shields To be sure, the archers' guilds of the fifteenth cen-
were made by private workshops to be sold whenever tury were not only sports clubs, but also military units
and wherever needed. Therefore, it was only practical as part of the town's militia; however, it seems that the
to paint the shields with a generally acceptable badge, decorated arrowheadswe are concerned with here were
the individual charges to be added later, while the used by armies in the field rather than by burghers in
arrowheads as symbols of authority naturally had to defense of their hometown or even in celebration of
display distinctly authoritative emblems. a sports event. Not one of them is preserved among
It has been thought that the decorated giant ar- treasures of archers' guilds, which have been handed
rowheads were insignia of rank for the commanders of down to our day in considerable number; not a single
local archers' guilds (Schiitzenhauptmann), or the win- known one is left in Bohemia, or even in what is now
ners of the annual archers' contests (Schiitzenkinig), Czechoslovakia. Instead, the majority of surviving
which took place in practically every town of some examples have turned up or still are in Hungary. The
importance.35 However, it is difficult to establish if kings of Hungary, who were sometimes kings of Bo-
these commanders had ceremonial arrows as batons or hemia at the same time,38 employed large numbers of
scepters; and on the other hand, the distinctive badge Bohemian mercenaries-who were famous as cross-
of the Schiitzenkinigwas an elaborate silver collar, bowmen-in their campaigns against the Turks. Ir-
though it sometimes had an arrow among its pendants, refutable proof of these Turkish campaigns is the
as was the case with the still surviving Schiitenketteof "Turkish arsenal mark" on the Metropolitan Mu-
the city of Leipzig (Figure 29).36 The conclusion seems seum's arrowhead.
to be that the same motives of decoration were used Pictorial representations of the use of ceremonial
both on ceremonial arrowheads and on such un- arrowsare rather scarce. The best-known examples are
questionably military equipment as pavises (the pavise Rogier van der Weyden's portrait Le Chevalier a la
in our own department has several holes from arrows

the armory of this town. Though Denkstein suggests a seventeenth- bowmenandpaviseswasthedismalfailureof theGenoesecrossbow-
century origin of this escutcheon, its shape is the same as those on men in the Battleof Crecy, 1346,who wereforcedto attackwith-
the Zwickau shields. out the protectionof theirpavises.
35. Kalmar, "Pfeilspitzen," p. 220; Kalmar, "Armbrust-Pfeil- 38. About Bohemianmercenaries,see Rose, "SchwarzeGar-
spitzen," pp. I58-166. About these archers' contests in general, den," pp. 73-97, particularlyp. 74: "NachdemKaiserSigismund
see August Edelmann, Schiitzenwesen und Schiitzenfesteder deutschen wiederin den Besitzvon Bohmengelangtwar,suchteer (i.J. 1429)
StddtevomXIII. bis zum XVIII. Jahrhundert(Munich, 1890). diese'Kriegsbriderschaften'...dadurchunschadlichzu machen,
36. Ad. M. Hildebrandt, HeraldischeMeisterwerkevonder inter- dasser sie in seinenSoldnahmund sich ihrerin Ungarngegendie
nationalenAusstellungfur Heraldik (Berlin, 1882) pl. 17; Kalmar, Tiirkenbediente.Sein Nachfolger,KaiserAlbrechtII, ahmtedie-
"Armbrust-Pfeilspitzen," p. I66, pl. 17, fig. 6. A silver arrow is ses Beispielnach.... Als Soldnerdienten sie vorzugsweisedem
one of the pendants on the collar of the archers' guild of Schmal- DeutschenOrdenin Preussen,den Polenund Ungarn,und trieben
kalden, Thuringia. See Hildebrandt, Meisterwerke,pl. I8, and sich als gesuchteMietsoldatennoch langer als ein halbesJahr-
Kalmar, "Armbrust-Pfeilspitzen," pi. 17, fig. 5. hundertauf allen SchlachtfeldernEuropasumher ... (Palacki,
37. Discussed at length in Denkstein, "Pavezy," Sbornik I8 Geschichte
vonBohmen,IV, I, pp. 495-504; 2, p. 399)."
(1964) pp. 149-194; 19 (1965) pp. 123-130. The close connection Kings of Bohemiawho were simultaneouslykingsof Hungary
of crossbowmen and pavise-bearers in Bohemian tactics is reflected during the fifteenth century: Sigismund (1368-1437), King of
in the German ballad of the Battle of Regensburg, 1504, quoted Hungary 1387, of Bohemia 1419, Emperor 1433; Albrecht (1397-
from R. v. Liliencron, Die historischenVolksliederder Deutschenvom 1439), King of Hungary 1437, of Bohemia 1438, Emperor 1438;
13. bis I6. Jahrhundert(Leipzig, I866) II, no. 242, p. 544: "die Ladislas Posthumus (1440-1457), King of Bohemia and Hungary
Behem hinder iren bafosen/mit schiessen triben solich wesen,/also I453; Matthias Corvinus (1443-1490), King of Hungary I458,
kum ein man gesehen hat." titular King of Bohemia 1470, acknowledged 1478; Wladislaw
The best-known example for the interrelation between cross- Jagiello (1456-1516), King of Bohemia 1471, of Hungary 1490.

77
 FIGURE 30
Portrait called Le Chevalier a la Fleche, possibly
of Charles the Bold or Antoine of Burgundy, by
Rogier van der Weyden, about I460. Musees
Royaux des Beaux-Artsde Belgique, Musee d'Art
Ancien, Brussels

Fleche in Brussels (Figure 30),39 and a Memling por-

trait in the National Gallery in Washington (Figure
3I).40 Here and in the portrait of the Burgundianherald
of arms by Rogier van der Weyden in Antwerp (Fig-
ure 32),41 as well as in the portrait of a bearded man
with an arrow in his hand by Bernhard Strigel (Figure
33),42 the arrows are of normal size and without con-
spicuous decoration. A large crossbow bolt with a
decorated head is held by Heinrich der Fromme, Duke
of Saxony, in a portrait now in Schloss Moritzburg
near Dresden (Figure 34).43 In this portrait painted in
1526 the duke is shown in the puffed and slashed
costume of a German footsoldier (Landsknecht), carry-
ing the typical battle sword, the so-called Katzbalger.
Oversized arrows can be found in three woodcuts por-
traying Emperor Maximilian (one in the Ehrenpforte,
and two in the Weisskunig),in which he holds one like a
scepter in a council of war, or acts as supreme warlord
among representativesof the different ethnic groups of
his army (Figures 35-37).44

39. Kalmar, "Pfeilspitzen," fig. 9; Kalmar, "Armbrust-Pfeil-

spitzen," pl. 26, fig. i; Buttin, "La Fleche desJuges," pi. 20.
40. The Metropolitan Museumof Art Bulletin 17 (1922) p. 100.
41. Buttin, "La Fleche desJuges," pi. 20.
42. Wilhelm Hausenstein, Tafelmalereider deutschenGotik (Mu-
nich, 1922) p. 76; Kalmar, "Armbrust-Pfeilspitzen," pl. 26, fig. 3;
according to information from the Hearst Corporation, New York,
the present whereabouts of the painting is not known.
43. Otto Mortzsch, "Das wehrhafte Freiberg im Mittelalter,"
ZHWK 7 (1915-I917) pp. 2I6-224, fig. 2.
44. Ehrenpfortedes Kaisers Maximilian, by Albrecht Diirer,
woodcut, German, 1515. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, ace.
no. 28.82.22. Der Weisskunig(Vienna edition, reprinting the origi-
nal blocks, I775), woodcuts by Hans Burgkmair and Leonhard
Beck, German, 1514-1516.

FIGURE 31
Portrait of a Man with an Arrow, by Hans Mem-
ling, about 1470. National Gallery of Art, Wash-
ington, Andrew Mellon Collection, I937

78
 FIGURE 33
Detail from Portrait of a
Bearded Man with an
Arrow in his Hand, by
Bernhard Strigel, about
15 0-1520. Formerly in
the Hearst collection

FIGURE 32
Portrait of Jean Lefevre de St. Remy, Herald of
Arms and Chancellor of the Order of the Golden
Fleece, by Rogier van der Weyden, about I460.
Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Ant-
werp, cat. no. 539

FIGURE 34 (RIGHT, ABOVE)

Detail from Portrait of Heinrich der Fromme,
Duke of Saxony, school of Lucas Cranach, 1526
(?). Schloss Moritzburg. After M6rtzsch

FIGURE 35
Emperor Maximilian among Representatives of
the Different Nationalities in His Army. Wood-
cut from the Ehrenpforte,
by Albrecht Durer, 1515.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Harris Bris-
bane Dick Fund, 28.82.22

79
 M 2I
7- ;'Cd:
^.1

:~
~.,5
~g~l---'~"-'--~~,.,
t
PI
I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ i;F;;slig?_?i;-- - --: r

' ~' "~'- I

C) -- - \
: .

lr-- -- -
L -~---..
=r?"~ . ...
_?
FIGURE 36 FIGURE 37
Emperor Maximilian in a Council of War. Wood- Emperor Maximilian Giving Orders to His
cut from the Weisskunig,by Hans Burgkmair, Troops. Woodcut from the Weisskunig,by Leon-
1514-I516. The Metropolitan Museum of Art hard Beck (?), 1514-I516. The Metropolitan
Library Museum of Art Library

FIGURE 38
King Ludwig of Hungary
Fighting the Turks.
Votive panel from the
altarpiece of St. Lam-
brecht, by Hans von
Tiibingen, about 1430.
Alte Galerie am Landes-
museum Joanneum,
Graz, Inv. no. L 12

80
 '

was very popular in Eastern Europe. Similar polearms

.^?->~~~ - ~and a big arrow are wielded in the Battle against the
\ -~7 Turks on the altarpiece of St. Lambrecht by Master
Hans von Tubingen, about I430, now in the Landes-
museum Joanneum in Graz, Austria (Figure 38).47 In
a woodcut by Urs Graf, an illustration of Leben Jesu
\~~
'?.",*~~~ !Christi, published in Strasbourg byJohann Knoblouch,
'~'V^\~~ '~"'.-~ 'I508, we see among the soldiers dragging the captive
;? @^,$~ ~ Christ before Caiaphas a man with a giant arrow (Fig-
- - -
;. J'i / ure 40).48 Examples from an amusingly different field

^r~1t i
- ','i1
* 4 4J5 / h45.Most recent publication:Fedja Anzelewsky,Diirerandhis
, 1 / Tim
Time, an exhibition from tthe collection of the Print Room, State
^'T:i \'L. ^'^-.''>?**
'i4 t ar .~~,.$ *rf ,3~/? > Museum, Berlin, Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz, circulated by
'
-
'
; \ ^ti' the Smithsonian Institution, I965- 966; National Gallery of Art,
: ' Washington, D.C.; Pierpont Morgan Library, New York; Art
: 4.. . '~'*-.;.ht.".
.~ >;. ] . .. - :-
' Institute, Chicago; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; cat. no. 18.
. ,'. . 46. Walther Rose, "Das mittelalterliche Wurfbeil und ver-
/ ! - wandte Wurf-Waffen,"/ ZHWK NF I (I923-1925) pp.
pp 151-168;
'
'# .: ^'^*'**v^-^|^( : ._- '^^-
'?
Hans St6cklein, "Die Wurfbeile des Bayerischen National-Mu-
l
1T -
/?k seums," ZHWK NF 2 (I926-I928) pp. I7-23; E. A. Gessler,
,.y*E. tI..........w......^ , .} ^. / " ',' ' "Vom NWurfbeil des I5.Jahrhunderts," ZH WK NF 2 ( I 926-1 928)
..^ ...- ' k
"'
,,.-;...>' . ''-. .......I t-.t ...,: pp. 249-252.
.... . - ? ,P.t4?Wi -4- -----47. Grimschitz, Ars Austriae,pl. 68.
.'^+ ~~~~~~~~-<w
<
^^^y^^48. -^ Richard Muther, Die deutscheBiicherillustrationderGothikund
-
- . Friihrenaissance
(NMunich and Leipzig, I884) pl. 2I6.

FIGURE 39 ' , ' '

Three Landsknechts. Drasingby Albrecht Dfi-r
rer,
the489 Kupferstichkabinett, Stifaung Preus-
sischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin

FIGURE 40
Christ before Caiaphas the High Priest. Wood-
cut by Urs
cut Urs Graf, from Leben
Graf, from Jesu Christi,
Leben Jesu ,hristi,published
publishedB
by Johann Knoblouch, Strasbourg, I5O8. After
Muther

In the Ehrenpforte wvoodcut, incidentally, there is

among the seven foreign captains, whose languages
Maximilian knew how to speak, a Czech characterized
by his typical Bohemian pavise painted with a sun-
burst. In Albrecht Durer's drawing of the three lands-
knechts, dated 1489, the bearded man who seems to be
the leader among the three holds a huge arrow (Figure
39).4* It is interesting that the soldier in the middle has
in his belt a throwing hatchet, a weapon considered to 1
be typically Bohemian,46 and the third one holds a
gldfe, a shafted weapon for stabbing and hewing that
 t.- .~
'I1i

FIGURE 41 King of
Spades, French, xv cen- I;F~~~~
tury. After D'Allemagne

I
FIGURE 42 Honor
cards, king, queen,
j ?I
; fMI
I11
knave, by Master Jaques,
French (Lyon), I472- 'II/ Li
I475. After D'Allemagne

.L ?!g=
FIGURE 43
Knaves, uncut sheet of
playing cards, by Jehan
de Dale, French (Lyon),
1485-15 5. After
D'Allemagne

I ; -

;as~r '
i ~rsd Ii~ip

FIGURE ,/ I / I"\ NkI li

44 "

Detail from The Siege of .//

Castle Mortagne, Jean

de Wavrin's Chronique -
I r:
_ ..:'EJCU-r-a~ I 9

d'Angleterre, Flemish, xv
century. British Museum,
MSRoy. 14 E.IV, fol. 23 r.
By permission of the
Trustees

82
 are the representations on honor cards in French fif-
teenth-century playing cards, where a king might hold
an arrow of normal size (Figure 4 ),49 but valets carry
either batons, halberds, or overlarge arrows (Figures
42, 43).50 It is open to question whether Diirer's lands-
knecht and the fighter in Master Hans' battle scene hold
ajavelin51 rather than an arrow, but there is no doubt
about the weapons of the card valets, because in some
cases the artist took pains to indicate clearly the notch at
the end of the shaft, which proves it to be a true arrow-
though one of asize that could not possibly be fitted on a
usable bow (Figure 43). A late example is to be found
in the portrait of a man in armor, about I58o, in the
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, holding a large
crossbow bolt in his right hand (Figure 45).52 The most
revealing evidence is to be found in a miniature in the
British Museum (Figure 44), where a captain of foot
soldiers holds an arrow as a staff of command.
From this it is clear that these representations fall
into two groups. In one group oversize arrows appear
in connection with armed men in a way that would
indicate symbols of military rank; in the other group
arrows of normal size in the hands of high-ranking
personalities in courtly dress suggest a different raison
d'etre.
Charles Buttin in his "La Fleche desJuges de Camp" FIGURE 45
mentions that the lord presiding over a tournament- Portrait of a Man in Armor, Netherlandish,
at least in French-speaking countries-held an arrow about I580. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna,
which he threw into the champclos between the combat- Inv. no. GG2747
tants when they were in danger of getting carried away
by their fighting fury. Upon this signal the attendants Since the sleeping soldier next to them cradles an only partly
in charge jumped in and separated the fighters before visible spear with an identical head in his arms, it is possible that
the painter intended them to be a pair of javelins. A non-military
one of them was killed.53 It is interesting that among
example is in the Franco-Flemish tapestry The Stag Hunt, in The
49. Henri Rene d'Allemagne, Les Cartesa Jouer du Quatorzieme Metropolitan Museum of Art (acc. no. 45.128.22) but the figure
au VingtilmeSiecle (Paris, 1906) I, p. 71. holding this javelin seems to be modeled-in a mirror image-
50. D'Allemagne, Cartesa Jouer, I, p. 74; plate between pp. 68 after the soldier in Urs Graf's woodcut of 1508.
and 69, p. 99. The overlarge arrows held by knaves appear until 52. Kalmar, "Pfeilspitzen," fig. I ; Kalmar, "Armbrust-Pfeil-
the eighteenth century in French playing cards, often misunder- spitzen," pl. 26, fig. 4, p. I65. Though the head of this weapon has
stood as staves topped with hearts, fleurs de lys, etc. They were the leaf shape of a lance head, the position of the man in relation to
copied in Netherlandish cards of the sixteenth century, English the wall and the table, on which his helmet is resting, makes it
cards of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and early unlikely for the weapon to have a pike-length shaft.
American cards of around 800; see Catherine Perry Hargrave, A 53. Buttin, "La Fleche des Juges," p. 63, quotes the following
Historyof Playing Cards(New York, 1966) pp. 40, 43-45, 47, I6i, examples from Jean Lefevre, Seigneur de St. Remy, Chronique
176, i8i, 289, 291. (Paris, 188i) II, pp. 318-319: "1435. Le duc [Philippe le Bon of
51. Giant arrows used as javelins are in engravings by the Burgundy] tenoit une flesche en sa main; sy demanda aux gardes,
Master of the Playing Cards, see D'Allemagne, Cartesa Jouer, I, c'est a entendre aux preneurs, s'ils congnoissoient bien le signe;
p. 41; and Master E.S., see Geisberg, KupferstichedesMeistersE.S., et ils dirent, que oil.... Quant ils se furent, une espasse, combatans
pls. 176, i77, 222. Denkstein, "Pavezy," Sbornik19 (I965) p. 109, de leurs haches, et fait l'un l'autre tourner et despasser, et monstre
illustrates a detail of Hubert and Jan van Eyck's painting The les tours d'armes qu'ils savoient, comme vaillans et hardis cheva-
Three Marys (Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam) liers, le duc gecta sa flesche en bas et dist 'Hola, hola.' Adont, les
where among the arms of the guardians of the grave is a Bohemian preneurs les prindrent subz en ce point"; and from Antoine de la
pavise lying on top of a large arrow with a rather elongated head. Sale, L'Hystoireet plaisantechroniquedu Petit Jehan de Saintreet de la

83
 FIGURE 46
Pair of spurs, Bohemian, third
quarter of the xv century. Steel,
engraved and perforated. Waffen-
sammlung, Vienna, Inv. no. A 27

FIGURE 47
Pair of stirrups, Bohemian, xv cen-
tury. Steel, engraved and perforated.
Waffensammlung, Vienna, Inv. no.
A 28

FIGURE 48
Pendant, Transylvanian, I45I. Silver and enamel. Hungarian Na-
tional-Museum, Budapest

84
 t
I
?:!h_-.'

' V":'

C FIGURE 49
Pair of spurs, probably
Bohemian, late xv century.
L.. Thought to be the spurs of
-.re King Laszlo II, who was killed
at Mohacs, 1526. Hungarian
National-Museum, Budapest

the great lords displaying this badge of office (Figures wyernapany = "Remember me, my dear and faithful
30-33) is Jean Lefevre de St. Remy, the herald of the lady!" In fact, style and workmanship are so closely
dukes of Burgundy, whose professional duty was the related to those in our arrowhead that both could well
arrangement and supervision of tournaments, and who have been made by the same master. A pair of stirrups
gave us in his Chroniquean example of the use of the ar- in the Waffensammlung (Figure 47) seems to belong to
row by the judge of the tournament. the same workshop. Besides scale patterns and flowing
Strangely enough, there are no representations of vines, their main decoration consists of four rows of the
persons with ceremonial arrows known from Bohemia letter a, eighteen times in each row. Stylistically there
itself. are strong similarities between the floral scrollwork
Motives used on ceremonial arrowheads and Bo- with its pointed leaves in the Metropolitan Museum's
hemian pavises can be found on contemporary works arrowhead and the foliation on a pendant, dated 145I,
of decorative art, such as the pair of spurs in the Waf- in the Hungarian National-Museum (Figure 48),55 or
fensammlung in Vienna (Figure 46), which are thought with the ornamental scrolls on the backgrounds of Bo-
to be made for King Kasimir IV of Poland (I427- hemian miniatures, such as the complex of manuscripts
1492) on the occasion of his marriage with Elisabeth made for King Wenceslas IV around I400.56 The
(1437-1505)-the daughter of King Albrecht of Bo- ornamentation on the Munich arrowhead (Figures 6,
hemia-in I 454. Here we find again the scale patterns, 7), on the other hand, is very close in style to that on
monogram,54 and an inscription: pomny na mye ma myla a pair of spurs in Budapest (Figure 49) traditionally at-

jeuneDame des Belles Cousines(Edition Guichard) chap. 56, p. 173: the revolutionary Hussite movement. Perhaps this k is meant to be
"1459. Saintre le poursuivoit tres fierement; quant le roy, pour Kasimir. Denkstein ("Pavezy," SbornikI6 [1962] no. I) does not
garder l'honneur de l'ung et de l'aultre, gecta sa fleiche, et furent offer an explanation, but strictly rejects the idea that this k might
prins...." be the initial of Kutna Hora or Kuttenberg, because no example
54. During the troubled times of the Hussite Wars, Prince Kasi- of an initial of a town's name used as a shield decoration is known.
mir had been elected king of Bohemia by the Taborites, the Another pavise, now in Berlin, bears the letter K repeated six
radical wing of the Hussites, after the death of Emperor Sigismund times within its Moravian-style decoration; see Denkstein,
in 1437; see Veit Valentin, DeutscheGeschichte (Munich and Zurich, "Pavezy," SbornikI8 (1964) fig. 24.
1960) I, p. I59. 55. Erich Steingraber, AntiqueJewelry (New York, I957) p. 78,
A very fine pavise, now in the National Museum in Prague, with fig. 114.
the representation of David fighting Goliath-a favorite Hussite 56. Julius von Schlosser, "Die Bilderhandschriften Konigs Wen-
theme-and Hussite inscriptions, is emblazoned with a k. This zel I," JahrbuchderKunsthistorischen Sammlungen14 (Vienna, 1893)
shield came from Kutna Hora (Kuttenberg), one of the centers of pp. 214-317.

85
 4
i8
A.
s l ii :
'~~~~~~~~
1k
Vi e
Al.

J.

ii
i-1,
-
.1r~-
i. 4.14.060.,,rtVpl--- I -,--
- .1-
.6
0-- "h&

-1
.
I . -11

. .. .
t 'I
.

i.

-in

'1
;ii

i I
c

Fr 7wiw^iinHngAraiar '

, ehtfttihttttftmttltaM
r
FIGURE 50
The Tower of Babel, illumination from the German Bible of King Wenceslas IV, Bohemian,
about 1390. In the framework, the arms of the Empire (eagle) and of Bohemia (double-
tailed lion), the monograms w (wr?) and e between wings erect. Bildarchiv der Osterreichi-
schen National-Bibliothek, Vienna, cod. 2.759, fol. IO

86
FIGURE 51
Title page of the Bulla Aurea,Bohemian, about
I390. Wenceslas sitting fettered in letter w, his
doublet embroidered with the monograms w and
e flanked by wings erect. The bathmaid to the
left has her kirtle patterned with winged letters e.
Bildarchiv der OsterreichischenNational-Biblio-
thek, Vienna, cod. 338, fol. I
FIGURE 52 (FAR RIGHT)
First page of the Willehalm,Bohemian, I387. -
' 1tietto .t,
9Tt6 rbt
Wenceslas and the bathmaid in the monogram
' illtritqttl
tItt xiIItt- t
we surmounted by a crowned e between king- uo1
iittt u pSr
ttl nn ltu
fishers. At bottom, e between wings erect on a fil isteut,.irtt(
tlt- tttr
i dltittlltUtnfIll
t0t X X /F
scale-patterned background. Bildarchiv der
Osterreichischen National-Bibliothek, Vienna,
cod. ser. nov. 2.643, fol. 66
FIGURE 53
Marginal illumination from the German Bible of .?
.k,,a.1.-

King Wenceslas IV, Bohemian, about I390.

Wenceslas having his hair washed by the bath-
maid, monograms e, and scale pattern. Bildarchiv
der Osterreichischen National-Bibliothek, Vien-
na, cod. 2.759, fol. 347 l
t Cttfls ftttitbt)
FIGURE 54 *nf'lrtiBnny- ttt 1'4 ...Vt,,, r
Initial A with the monogram of King Wenceslas
COP\
( ~tf*t
IV and his queen, Sophia, surnamed Euphemia
(Offney), Bohemian, I390-I400. Bayerische .Zor3rl~~~(
,i, rr.. ~ x
Staatsbibliothek, Munich, cod. lat. 826, fol. 27 r
FIGURE 55 (BELOW, RIGHT)
Marginal illumination from the Willehalm,Bo-
hemian, 1387. King Wenceslas'sarms (quartered
of the Empire and Bohemia) with wildmen as
supporters, the monograms w and e crowned,
and his badge of the kingfishersitting on a knotted
towel. Bildarchiv der Osterreichischen National-
Bibliothek, Vienna, cod. ser. nov. 2.643, fol. 200
 related to that on the Munich arrowhead-this might
be derived from the plumage of the kingfisher, the
personal device of Wenceslas.58 The monograms appear
surmounted by crowns or flanked by wings erect (Fig-
ures 50-52, 54, 55), a combination to be found on the
Dresden shield (Figure 28) and, supplemented by
ostrich feathers, on the Warsaw pavise with the mono-
gram of Christ (Figure 27). These elements are certain-
ly derived from the royal crest of Bohemia: two sable
eagle's wings erect, spangled with golden linden leaves,
issuant from a crown (Figures 50, 55)-here we have a
probable source too for the leaf-like figure on one of the
Budapest arrowheads (Figure 8). The omnipresent
ostrich feathers are worn as headdresses not only by
FIGURE 56
marginal figures, such as wildmen acting as armorial
Crest of the kings of Hungary from the Roll of
supporters (Figure 55), but also by Wenceslas himself
Armsofthe herald Gelre, 1370-I 395. After Adam- and his "steady companion," the bathmaid (Figure
Even
52). On the other hand, an ostrich's head flanked by
two ostrich feathers issuant from a crown was the crest
tributed to King Laszlo II of Hungary (I506- 526), of the kings of Hungary (Figure 56).59 Perhaps one of
who was killed in the disastrous battle of Mohacs. the kings of Bohemia who was king of Hungary at the
Janos Kalmar suggests that these spurs might date same time, either Sigismund, the half brother of Wen-
from the end of the fifteenth century. On the arrow- ceslas IV, or his son-in-law Albrecht, adopted the
head as well as on the spurs appear the letters mmmm.57 ostrich feather as a personal badge. Apparently these
The stylistic relations between the spurs of King motives of royal iconography became abgesunkenesKul-
Kasimir and the Metropolitan Museum's arrowhead turgut, and were then considered to be national em-
might even indicate that this arrowheadwas a personal blems to be used as common badges.
insigne of King Albrecht himself, but in any case they In this context it is necessary to mention once more
point to the source of these emblems and the peculiar the often repeated legend of the origin of the famous
style of decoration: the royal court of Bohemia. All the badge of the Prince of Wales, the three ostrich feathers
characteristic motives mentioned can be found in the (Figures 57, 58). As the legend goes, Edward, the
illuminations of the above-mentioned manuscripts Black Prince, took these feathers from the helmet of
commissioned by King Wenceslas IV ( 376-I419), the John the Blind, King of Bohemia, who was killed in the
only major group of surviving pieces of this court art. Battle of Crecy. For many years King John had been
The monogram w of Wenceslas, and e for Euphemia, regarded as the flower of chivalry, and in adopting his
the poetic surname of Wenceslas' second wife, Sophia device-including the German motto ich diene-the
of Bavaria, appear singly and combined as we (Figures Black Prince supposedly wanted to become his succes-
50-55); the scale pattern in the background of the sor. This legend has been treated by historians at best
miniatures is in a peculiar dotted form (Figures 52, 53) with condescension; more often it has been rejected

57. Kalmar, "Pfeilspitzen," fig. 8; Kalmar, "Armbrust-Pfeil- its vernacular form "Offney," even for signing documents. The
spitzen," pl. 28, fig. I. The shanks of the spurs bear inscriptions kingfisher was regarded as a symbol of marital love and fidelity.
mvdrinoamm and m m aorni dvm in addition to monogram- The scale pattern is often drawn to represent fur; parallels and
matic letters n or u. Though mudrican be interpreted as the Czech prototypes can be found in Bohemian miniatures and sculpture,
word for "wise," these inscriptions are more likely compositions such as the statue of Emperor Charles IV at the Bridge Tower,
of initials of mottoes or invocations. Prague.
58. The intricacies of this courtly iconography are discussed and 59. P. Adam-Even, "L'armorial universel du Heraut Gelre
explained at great length in Schlosser, "Bilderhandschriften," pp. (1370-I395)," ArchivesHeraldiquesSuisses 75 (1961) pp. 48, no.
214-2I7. Queen Sophia used her poetic surname "Euphemia" or 500, pl. 3.

88
 FIGURE 57
Shield for Peace of Edward, the Black Prince,
1330- 376. After Strohl

FIGURE 58
Badges of Arthur, Prince of Wales, I486- I502, in
Peterborough Cathedral. After Str6hl
outright,60but it has not been pointed out before in this
connection that the ostrich feather was indeed a badge
of Bohemia.

60. Walther Rose, "KonigJohann der Blinde von Bohmen und

\ A
die Schlacht bei Cr6cy (1346)," ZHWK 7 (1915- 917) pp. 37-60.
The legend of the Black Prince's badge is told on p. 57, note Io6,
with its rejection quoted from Pauli, GeschichtevonEngland,IV, p.
404, note 3. Martin Schweisthal, "Questions d'H6raldique, III.
Le badge anglais et la devise du Prince de Galles," Annalesde la
Societe Royale d'Archaeologie de Bruxelles 20 (192 1) pp. 99- 05, claims
that the Black Prince used the ostrich feather badge even before FIGURE 59
Cr6cy, but gives no proof of this; the mottoes ich dienand houmout St. George. Detail of a pavise, Bohemian, last
are claimed to be Flemish. H. G. Strohl, "Beitrage zur Geschichte
quarterof the xv century. Museum, Enns, Austria
der Badges," Jahrbuchderk.k. HeraldischenGesellschaft"Adler,"NF I 2
(1902) pp. 75-I 3, figs. 52-56, 62, 69, 73, 88-9I. Another theory
about the possible origin of the badge of the Black Prince points out
that his mother, Philippa of Hainault, used the ostrich feather as a
badge in I369. Here it is thought to be connected as a canting
device to the lordship of Ostrevant, a title of the eldest sons of the
counts of Hainault. However, the crowned ostrich feather and the
sunburst both were used by King Edward III, father of the Black
Zr~~;jq,~~a~~l~el Jrl~~~4
Prince. In the confusing play of dynastic marriages it came to pass
that Wenceslas of Bohemia, Duke of Luxembourg, half brother of
Charles IV, King of Bohemia and Emperor, was married to
Johanna of Brabant, who had been married in her first marriage
to William IV of Holland, the brother of Philippa of Hainault and
the holder of the title of Ostrevant. Later the daughter of Emperor
Charles IV, Anna of Bohemia, half sister of King Wenceslas IV and
sister of Emperor Sigismund, was married to Richard II, King of
England, son of the Black Prince. As a possible explanation for the
ostrich feather as a Bohemian badge, Denkstein ("Pavezy,"
Sbornik19 [1965] p. 200) mentions that St. George is frequently
shown in fifteenth-century representations with a headband hold-
ing an ostrich plume in ajeweled clasp (Figure 59); see Max Lehrs,
The Masterof theAmsterdam Cabinet,International Chalcographical
Society, 1893/1894, pl. 34. The best-known example is probably
the life-size sculpture in the Church of St. Nicolai (Storkyrka) in
Stockholm, by Bernt Notke, finished 1489; see Walter Paatz,
BerntNotkeundseinKreis (Berlin, 1939) I, pp. 68-96; II, pls. 74-78.
One of the pavises with Bohemian decoration from the town
armory in Enns, Austria, shows a St. George with this type of
headdress; see Gustav Stockhammer, "Ennser Tartschen," ZHWK
7 (1915-1917) pp. I30-135; Denkstein, "Pav6zy," Sbornik 16
(1962) no. 31. It seems possible that this plume was to represent
-pars pro toto-the popular knightly saint. The badge of the Black
Prince might be a parallel to this, considering the fact that St.
George was the patron saint of England.

89
 A Ceremonialarrowheadspreserved
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. m Pavises of Bohemianorigin imported
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-I Pavises of Bohemiantype of construction
manufacturedlocally,but not with
Bohemianpatternof decoration

AUSTRIA
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locations
Mapindicating of ceremonial
arrowheads of Bohemian
andpavises type

I wish to express my warmest thanks for invaluable help and advice Leipzig; Dr. Wolfgang Hormann, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek,
in interpreting the Czech inscriptions to Dr. Marica Vilcek, The Munich; Major FrancisJones, T.D., M.A., Wales Herald Extraor-
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Dr. Vladimir Denk- dinary, Carmarthen Castle; Dr. Peter Krenn, Alte Galerie am
stein, Director of the National-Museum, Prague; Dr. Ivan Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz; Mr. Carl Otto Kretzschmar
Hlavacek, Docent at the University Karlovy, Prague; Professor von Kienbusch, New York; Dr. Sandor Mihalik, Vice-Director
Dr. Jaromir Neumann, C. Sc., Director of the Institute for Art emeritus of the Hungarian National-Museum, Budapest; Dr.
History, Academy of Sciences, Prague. Raffaele Natta-Soleri, Inspector of the Armeria Reale, Turin;
For important information about the subject I am especially Hofrat Dr. Hans Pauer, Director of the Osterreichische National-
obliged to Dr. Janos Kalmar, formerly of the Hungarian National- Bibliothek, Vienna; William Reid, F.S.A. SCOT., Assistant
Museum, Budapest; and for great help in providing information Keeper of the Armouries, H. M. Tower of London; Dr. Alexander
and photographs for this publication I am deeply grateful to Dr. Freiherr von Reitzenstein, Director of the Bayerisches Armee-
Fedja Anzelewsky, Kustos, Kupferstichkabinett, Berlin; Dr. Erwin Museum, Munich; Dipl. phil. Johannes Sch6bel, Director of the
Auer, Director of the Reproduktions-Abteilung des Kunsthisto- Historisches Museum, Dresden; Dr. F. Temesvary, Department
rischen Museums, Vienna; J. P. Brooke-Little, Esq., Richmond Head of the Hungarian National-Museum, Budapest; Dr. Bruno
Herald of Arms, College of Arms, London; Dr. Erich Egg, Director Thomas, Director of the Waffensammlung des Kunsthistorischen
of the Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum, Innsbruck; Dr. Museums, Vienna; Unsal Yiicel, Assistant Curator at the Topkapi
Anneliese Hanisch, Kustos, Museum fur das Kunsthandwerk, Sarayi Museum, Istanbul.

90
 Bohmische Prunkpfeilspitzen

Im November 1966 erwarb das Metropolitan Museum wurde, aber seitdem verschollen ist. Von diesen tragt
auf einer Auktion bei Sotheby's, London, eine reich- die Miinchner Spitze beidseitig alttschechische An-
verzierte Pfeilspitze - genauer gesagt, die Spitze eines rufungen Maria: "mamyla pan[o] = meine liebe
Armbrustbolzens - von ungew6hnlicher Gr6sse. Bei Jungfrau" und "mamyla panny = meine liebe Her-
einer Gesamtlange von 30 cm ist sie viel zu gross, um rin", sowie auf der Tulle ihr Monogramm gereiht
von einer noch so machtigen Armbrust verschossen zu "MMMM" (Abb. 6, 7). Alle iibrigen Stiicke - bis
werden, dabei ist sie iiber und iiber im Eisenschnitt auf das Innsbrucker Exemplar - sind nur einseitig
ornamentiert and teilweise mit Messing eingelegt. verziert. Die erste der Budapester Spitzen (Abb. 8, 9)
Hauptmotiv der Verzierung ist ein von einer mit einer tragt ein "a" und ein "v," je unter einer von einer
grossen Straussenfeder besteckten Krone fiberragtes Straussenfeder uberragten Krone. Darunter sind
Monogramm "ar" in gotischen Lettern, begleitet von kleine Beizeichen zu sehen, die einem Lindenblatte
Anrufungen Gottes and Maria in mittelalterlichem und einer mit Widerhaken versehenen Pfeilspitze ah-
Tschechisch: "Zdarz bvo[h] = Wohlauf mit Gott, neln. Die zweite (Abb. Io, Ii) ffihrt auf ihrer linken
bezw. Hilfgott," "marya pano = Jungfrau Maria," Klingenhalfte ein "d" iiber einem kleineren "s," das
"mamyla = meine Liebe [Jungfrau Maria]," "warvy Ganze von einer sehr stilisierten befiederten Krone
woka = Behfit dein Auge, bezw. Hilt dich vor dem iiberragt; das Zeichen auf der rechten Klingenhalfte
Auge [Gottes]," sowie verschiedenen, z.T. gekronten, ist zu verwischt, als dass ausser einer gleichen Krone
Einzelbuchstaben: "S," "X," "t," "m," und "a" und etwas Genaueres herausgelesen werden konnte. Die
"e" iiber Kreuz gelegt. Auf der streifenartig mit Ran- dritte Spitze in Budapest (Abb. 12, 13) ist insofern ver-
ken- und Schuppenmustern verzierten Tuille befindet schieden von alien anderen, als es sich bei ihr um eine
sich ein nachtraglich eingeschlagenes Zeichen, die so- sogenannte bartige Pfeilspitze handelt. Die Wiener
genannte Marke des tiirkischen Arsenals (Abb. I, 2, Spitze in der Waffensammlung (Abb. I4) hat ein "t"
4 5). unter einer einzelnen, steif aufrechtstehenden Straus-
Es sind bisher elfverwandte Pfeilspitzenbekannt und senfeder auf der einen Klingenhalfte, und auf der an-
von Janos Kalmar veroffentlicht worden (Anm. 5); deren ein "d" iiber einem kleinen "s", das Ganze unter
die meisten von ihnen befinden oder befanden sich in einer einfachen Laubkrone. Dazu kommen noch zwei
Ungarn: drei im Ungarischen National-Museum zu kleine Beizeichen, die bartige Pfeilspitzen darstellen
Budapest, je eine im Bakony Museum in Veszprem, konnten. Die beiden Stiicke aus Keszthely und
dem Balaton Museum in Keszthely, und dem Museum Veszprem (Abb. I5, I6) sind nahezu identisch; beide
der Stadt Ffinfkirchen (Pecs). Ferner ist je eine in der haben einen Buchstaben "1" oder vielleicht "i" unter
Waffensammlung des Kunsthistorischen Museums zu einer grob eingeschlagenen stilisierten Straussenfeder
Wien, dem Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum in als einzige Verzierung. Ahnlich einfach ist die Spitze
Innsbruck, der Sammlung Graf Wilczek auf Burg von Burg Kreuzenstein (Abb. I8), die ein "S" unter
Kreuzenstein und dem Bayerischen National-Museum einer spitzgezackten Krone tragt. Die verschollene
in Miinchen, wahrend die letzte sich in der Sammlung Spitze der Sammlung Jedlicska (Abb. I9) hatte mit
Jedlicska in Budapest befand, wo sie in Szendreis Ka- Rankenwerk verzierte Messingeinlagen, die stilistisch
talog der Millenniums-Ausstellung 1896 veroffentlicht dem Dekor der Miinchener Spitze verwandt zu sein

91
scheinen. Das Exemplar in Fiinfkirchen (Pecs) dage- identisch ist. Das fur die Zwickauer Schilde gesicherte
gen hat eine so v6llig verrostete Klinge (Abb. 20), dass Datum "vor I441" kommt der Regierungszeit Konigs
keinerlei Einzelheiten mehr erkennbar sind. Die mes- Albrecht, I438-I439, so nahe, dass man dieses Mono-
singplattierten Halsteile zeigen Schuppenmuster, die gramm als "Albertus Rex" aufl6sen kann. Diese Deu-
denen auf der Miinchner, Wiener, auf zweien der tung ist wegen des weiteren Monogrammes "a und e
Budapester und schliesslich auch unserer Spitze ver- uber Kreuz gelegt" besondersverlockend, da Albrecht
wandt sind; v6llig abweichend dagegen ist der Um- mit Kaiser Sigismunds Tochter Elisabeth von Bohmen
stand, dass sie keine Tulle besitzt, sondern "im Dorn verheiratet war. Vielleicht sind die anderen "a" auf
eingelassen" war. Von allen anderen verschieden ist zwei der Budapester Pfeilspitzen (Abb. 8, I2) und
das Innsbrucker Exemplar (Abb. 21); nicht nur ist es einer Pavese (Abb. 25) ebenfalls aufAlbrecht zu bezie-
mit 73 mm wesentlich kleiner als die anderen Stiicke, hen. Besonders haufig findet man den Buchstaben
die 05 bis I15 mm messen, sondern es ist auch prak- "S," sowohl auf Pfeilspitzen, als auch auf Pavesen.
tisch tiillenlos, dabei auf allen vier Seiten mit einge- Mindestens bei der Kreuzensteiner Spitze konnte es
punzten Buchstaben "b" in einfachem Rankenwerk sich dabei um den Anfangsbuchstaben Sigismunds
geschmuckt und dariiberhinaus bis auf die Spitze handeln (Abb. I8). Wahrscheinlich haben die "s" aber
vergoldet. Als einziges Stuck besitzt es noch einen mit nicht alle dieselbe Bedeutung; zum Beispiel ware eine
Resten von Befiederung versehenen Schaft. weitere Moglichkeit "Sebastian" als der Patron der
Es fallt auf, dass unter diesen Pfeilspitzen sieben ein Schutzen. Allerdings scheint Sebastian gerade in Boh-
von einer Straussenfederoder Krone iiberragtes Mo- men eine sehruntergeordneteRolle zu spielen,wahrend
nogramm aufweisen, andere wieder verwandten Ran- er im Westen - vor allem im Rheinlande - von gross-
ken- oder Schuppendekor. ter Wichtigkeit ist. Aufzwei Spitzen (Abb. Io, 14) be-
Das Ursprungsland dieser Prunkpfeilspitzen ist findet sich ein kleines "s" unterhalb eines gr6sseren
durch die Deutung der Inschriften einwandfrei be- "d." Falls hier ein Zusammenhang mit den tschechi-
stimmt; es ist nun angebracht, nach etwaigen Ent- schen Worten fur Armbrust oder Schiitze - "samo-
sprechungen der Motive, insbesondere der charakte- stril" und "stfelec" - vorlage, so k6nnte das "d" viel-
ristischen Monogramme unter Straussenfedern,in der leicht fur die romische Ziffer D = 500 stehen ? Das auf
Kunst und dem Kunstgewerbe - und darin wieder der Wiener Spitze (Abb. I4) vorkommende "t" k6nnte
besonders Waffen - Bohmens zu suchen. Es gibt eine das Monogramm des Olmiitzer Bischofs Taso von
Anzahl Schilde, sogenannte Pavesen, bohmischer Her- Boskowitz sein, der als Parteiganger K6nigs Matthias
kunft mit eben diesen Motiven bemalt und unter ihnen Corvinus in dessen Feldziigen gegen Osterreich eine
eine Gruppe, die genau datiert werden kann. Die Rolle spielte. Im Historischen Museum der Stadt Wien
letzteren sind zw6lf Uberlebende einer im Jahre I44I sind mehrere Pavesen erhalten, die das Wappen von
erfolgten Bestellung von vierzig Pavesen seitens der Olmiitz und der Boskowitz tragen; sie stammen wahr-
Stadt Zwickau in Sachsen bei den riihmlich bekannten scheinlich von der Besetzung Wiens durch Matthias
Schildmachern von Komotau (Chomutov). Unter ih- Corvinus, I485-I490. Allerdings steht das "t" unter
nen sind nicht weniger als sieben mit dem Feder-und- einer Straussenfeder, wahrend keine der mahrischen
Monogramm-Motiv (Abb. 22, 23, 24), doch ist dieses Pavesen eine solche tragt, ausserdem wiirde diese Er-
auch ausserhalb dieser Gruppe zu finden (Abb. 26, klarung nicht fir das "t" auf unserer Pfeilspitze in
27). Verhaltnismassig leicht zu identifizieren sind die Frage kommen. Der Buchstabe "v" auf einer der Bu-
sog. Monogramme Christi "ihs" (Abb. 24, 27) und dapester Pfeilspitzen (Abb. 8) und einer Zwickauer
ihre Abart "y" (Abb. 22), sowie "X" fur "xpus = Pavese soll vielleicht den Namen des Schutzpatrons
Christus" (Abb. 2). Ahnlich liegt der Fall mit "m" von Bohmen, des heiligen Wenzel, in seiner tschechi-
fur "Maria" (Abb. 4, 6, 7, 28). Das auf mehreren schen Form "Vaclav" andeuten. Die beiden Pfeilspit-
Pavesen (Abb. 26, 27) vorkommende "W" ist das Mo- zen von Keszthely und Veszprem (Abb. 15, 16) tragen
nogramm K6nigs Wladislaw Jagiello, I470-I516. einen Buchstaben, der entweder "1"oder "i" bedeuten
Einer der Zwickauer Schilde (Abb. 23) tragt ein Mono- kann; "1"konnte fur Ladislas Posthumus, I453-1457,
gramm "ar," das mit dem aufunserer Prunkpfeilspitze den Sohn Albrechts, stehen, "i" fur "Jii'" = Georg,
entweder den ritterlichen Heiligen oder Georg von mamyla wyerna pany = Gedenke mein, meine liebe
Podiebrad, den "Hussitenk6nig," 1457-I469. Aller- und getreue Herrin!." Die Sporen scheinen von dem-
dings ist auf einer Pavese mit tschechischer Inschrift selben Meister zu sein wie die Pfeilspitze des Metro-
aufVeste Coburg der Buchstabe "g" als Beizeichen zu politan Museums, auch die Steigbiigel stehen ihnen so
einem St. Georg zu finden. nahe, dass sie vielleicht alle aus einer gemeinsamen
Diese Prunkpfeilspitzenwerden fiir Rangabzeichen Werkstatt stammen. Die Miinchner Spitze wiederum
von Schiitzenhauptleuten oder Schiitzenkonigen ge- (Abb. 6, 7) ist in ihrer Dekoration einem Paar Sporen
halten, die sparlichen Bildquellen jedoch zerfallen in (Abb. 49) im National-Museum Budapest verwandt;
zwei deutlich unterschiedene Gruppen: in der einen diese werden als die Sporen Konigs Laszlo II, I5o6-
treten Personen in Hofkleidung auf reprasentativen 1526, angesprochen. Nach Kalmar diirften diese Spo-
Portrats mit einem Pfeil in der Hand auf (Abb. 30, 31, ren noch vom Ende des fiinfzehnten Jahrhunderts sein.
32, 34, 41), in der anderen werden iibergrosseBolzen Der Formenschatz der Verzierungsmotive an Pave-
oder Pfeile von Geriisteten oder als Krieger Gekenn- sen und Prunkpfeilspitzengleichermassenkann eindeu-
zeichneten getragen (Abb. 35-40, 42-45). tig aus der Prager Hofkunst hergeleitet werden. In den
Charles Buttin hat festgestellt, dass - wenigstens in Illuminationen der fur Wenzel IV angefertigten Hand-
franzosisch sprechenden Landen - der Turnierherr schriften finden sich gekr6nte und gefliigelte Mono-
einen Pfeil in der Hand trug, um ihn zwischen die gramme, die Fliigel sichervon der Helmzier der Konige
Kampen beim Fussturnier zu werfen, falls aus dem von Bohmen abgeleitet, dazu Schuppenmuster als
Spiele Ernst zu werden drohte, woraufdann die Gries- Hintergriinde und Straussenfedern als Kopfschmuck
wartel einschritten und die Kampfer mit Gewalt trenn- in Darstellungen Wenzels selbst und seiner Wappen-
ten. Die erste Gruppe, darunter der Herold von Bur- halter (Abb. 50-54). Ein Straussenkopfund Straussen-
gund, sind solche Turnierrichter. Die zweite Gruppe federn sind allerdings auch die Helmzier der Konige
lasst keinen Zweifel, dass der iibergrosse Pfeil ein mili- von Ungarn (Abb. 56). Vielleicht hat Sigismund oder
tarisches Rangabzeichen ist, was durch die engen Albrecht, die ja gleichzeitig Konige von Ungarn wa-
ikonographischen Beziehungen seiner Schmuckmotive ren, die Straussenfeder von dort als pers6nliches
zu den ebenfalls eindeutig militarischen Pavesen - Abzeichen entliehen? Anscheinend sind diese ur-
Schilden fur Armbrustschiitzen - noch bekraftigt spriinglich k6niglichen Symbole sehr bald schon als
wird. Es ist auch bezeichnend, dass keine dieser Prunk- abgesunkenes Kulturgut fur nationale bdhmische Ab-
pfeilspitzen im Besitze einer Schiitzengilde erhalten zeichen in Anspruch genommen worden, wobei die
blieb, sondern dass sie meist in Ungarn auftauchen, wo K6nigsmonogramme gelegentlich in Monogramme
b6hmische Soldner - die ja besonders als Armbrust- Christi und Maria umgewandelt wurden.
schiitzen gesucht waren - gegen die Tiirken einge- Zum Schlussesei hier aufdie Sage von der Entstehung
setzt waren; die "tiirkische Arsenalmarke" ist ja ein des "badge" des Prinzen von Wales hingewiesen. An-
direkter Beweis, dass unsere Spitze einmal Kriegsbeute geblich soll Edward, der Schwarze Prinz, sein "badge,"
war. Seltsam ist und bleibt allerdings, dass aus Boh- die drei Straussenfedern mit dem Motto "ich dien,"
men selbst keine Darstellung eines solchen Pfeiles als nach der Schlacht von Crecy, 1346, zu Ehren des dort
Wiirdezeichen bekannt ist. gefallenen BohmenkonigsJohann des Blinden, der drei
Den Prunkpfeilspitzen nahverwandt sind ein Paar goldene Straussenfedern als Helmzier gefiihrt haben
Sporen (Abb. 46) und ein Paar Steigbiigel (Abb. 47) in soll, angenommen haben. Diese Sage ist oft wiederholt
der Wiener Waffensammlung; die Sporen tragen das und 6fter widerlegt worden, doch ist bisher noch nicht
Monogramm K6nigs Kasimir IV von Polen, der I454 in diesem Zusammenhang darauf hingewiesen wor-
Elisabeth, die Tochter Albrechts, geheiratet hat, sowie den, dass die Straussenfeder tatsachlich ein koniglich
eine tschechische Anrufung Maria: "pomny na mye b6hmisches Abzeichen war.

93
 A Spinettina for the Duchess of Urbino

EMANUEL WINTERNITZ
The Metropolitan
Curatorof MusicalInstruments, Museumof Art

THE REAPPEARANCE in our day of a well-preserved stern, immutable laws of acoustics. Unlike the strings
Renaissance keyboard instrument, never recorded of a modern pianoforte, the strings in this kind of
throughout all the centuries, a beautiful spinettina instrument run from left to right, parallel with the
(Figure I) with the name of its princely owner and the front wall, with the bass strings nearest to the player
history of its commission mentioned inside, is a boon and the treble strings farthest away. In this design, the
for scholars, and to find a jewel like this in a town like bass keys obviously can be very short (the shortest
New York is a startling adventure for a museum Cura- natural only 17.5 cm. [6% in.]) while the treble keys
tor of Musical Instruments. must extend far toward the rear to reach their strings
The soundbox of our spinettina has the shape of an (the longest natural, 44.5 cm. [71/2 in.]) (Figure 4).
irregular pentagon' (Figure 2) (length I40 cm. [55/8 There are fifty strings running over graduated bridges,
in.]; width 47 cm. [I8/2 in.]; height 16.2 cm. [6% in.]) their vibrating length varying from I .5 to I19 cm.
with a very short side wall on the left and a long side (4%1,to 467 in.).
wall on the right, while the back wall consists of two As usual in Italian keyboard instruments of that
sections-a long one slanting back away from the key- time, and unlike Flemish virginals, the keyboard pro-
board, and the other short one nearly parallel with the jects from the front wall. The compass is four and a half
front wall. This shape is by no means due to aesthetic octaves, C to f3, with a short octave in the bass. The
-that is, visual- reasons, but strictly determined by jacks, carrying on their movable tongues quills cut
functional necessity-that is, in the last end, by the from bird feathers, are relatively short-8.o cm. (3/
in.) (Figure 5) and move in rectangular slots which are
i. Sometimes this straight-linepentagon was replaced by a cut directly in the soundboard itself. The beautifully
complexsphericalcontour-for instance,in the spinettinarepre- decorated jack rail prevents the jacks from leaping out
sentedin the intarsiasby Fra Giovannida Verona that decorate of their slots when they are pushed up by the rear end
the doorsof the Stanzadella Segnaturain the Vatican (Figure3).
I have tried to draw attention to these and other intarsiaswith of the keys.
musicalsubjectsin my paper "The Importanceof Quattrocento The early history of keyboard instruments is still very
Intarsiasin the History of Musical Instruments,"read at the obscure and cannot be discussed here. Yet it is certain
SeventhInternationalCongress,Cologne, 1958, reprintedin my
that in Italy, long before our spinettina, complicated
recentbook, MusicalInstruments andTheirSymbolism in Western
Art
(Londonand New York,1967).The renderingof the spinettinaby instruments with keyboards were constructed: harpsi-
Fra Giovannidates from about 1520, about twenty years before chords, spinette, and clavichords. Perhaps the most
our spinettina;it is certainlya portraitof an actual instrument,
precise depictions made in wood and in life-size are
precisely depicted in the quattrocentotechnique of geometric
those in intarsias, of which I should like to mention
projection;on the otherhand, it is made to float so beautifullyin
spacethat it has an almostsurrealisticeffect. here only the large, beautifully made clavichord

95

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve, and extend access to
Metropolitan Museum Journal ®
www.jstor.org
 96

1 71 'i E: .
[
n 1 ii i i i l

I1

2
;r** c' .r
??? *
FIGURE I (OPPOSITE)

Spinettina made in Venice, 1540, for Eleonora,

Duchess of Urbino. The Metropolitan Museum
of Art, purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 53.6

FIGURE 2 (OPPOSITE, BELOW)

Bird's-eye view of the Metropolitan's spinettina

FIGURE 3
Spinettina in one of the doors of the Stanza della
Segnatura, Vatican, intarsied by Fra Giovanni
da Verona (photo: Musei Vaticani)

FIGURE 4
Layout of the keys

97
 depicted in the studiolo of the main residence of Fede-
rigo da Montefeltro in Urbino (Figure 6). This clavi-
chord has no less than forty-seven keys. The intarsias
were made by a master not yet identified, in the early
I470s, that is, about seventy years before our spinettina.
The proportions, the mechanism, and the beauty of
instruments like these justify the assumption that such
keyboard instruments must have already had a con-
siderable history before the date of this intarsia.

FIGURE
ii 5
So much for the shape of our instrument as it was
determined by its function and by traditions of work-
manship. We now proceed to its decorative features
and feel justified in describing them in detail, since the
ornamentation makes this one of the most refined and
Jacks seen from the side, the front, and the rear exquisite Renaissance instruments extant, and proba-
bly one of the finest ever made.
The decoration is carefully planned and is executed
in different media: intarsia, painting, certosina work,
FIGURE 6 carving, and so on, each applied to a different and
Clavichord detail from the intarsias in the stu- precisely limited area. The only large region where the
diolo of Federigo da Montefeltro in Urbino wood is left bare is, of course, the soundboard. Any

98
 FIGURE 7
Detail of the keyboard

FIGURE 8
Spinettinamade in Milan, 1577, by Annibale Rossi, studded with 1,928 precious stones.Victoria and Albert
Museum, no. 809-1869

inlay or carving there would have interfered with its This spinettina is not showy and extravagantly
vibration.2 The soundboard is made of Italian cypress. ostentatious as is the one by Annibale Rossi, made in
The fifty keys are made of oak wood, the thirty naturals Milan in I577 and preserved in the Victoria and
with ivory facings, the twenty sharps with ebony Albert Museum (no. 809-I869) (Figure 8), which is
facings. The fronts, as usual at the time, are arcaded studded with precious stones, large ivory plaques, and
(Figure 7). lapis lazuli panels, while ours is in the refined and
2. Only Flemish keyboard instruments, especially the virginals
dignified taste prevailing in the preceding generation,
of the Ruckers tradition, have their soundboards decorated, but a work of art made by a master craftsman for connois-
with nothing more substantial than painted flowers. seurs.

99
 FIGURE 9
Detail of the inside of the back wall of the Metro-
politan Museum's spinettina FIGURE 10
Decoration of the soundhole

The inside walls of the soundbox above the sound- ..

board are divided by engaged consoles into squares of .-:'
identical decoration with geometrical designs based on ' '
^....
rhomboids (Figure 9). ''=
The jack rail is made of gum wood with inlaid strips *-n
of walnut and ebony and with eight decorative buttons : .
of black and white segments in ivory and ebony. : i,t'
The soundhole rose (Figure Io), that place par excel- ;'^I?'
lence for exquisite ornamentation, is made of several
layers of parchment in flamboyant Gothic tracery and . w ^ ^
framed by several parchment rings. /...';.t-'
',
The front wall above the keyboard is divided into
nine squares of alternating decoration (Figure II);
i) ^. _'*__-"_'
four of the squares have a simple geometric design . ...

FIGURE II
Front wall above the keyboard

I00
executed in inlay of mother-of-pearl (see Figure 7).
The remaining five squares show exquisite stars done in
Gothic tracery (Figures 12, I 3). The corner stars are of
identical design, and so are the two stars nearest to the
middle one. Each of these stars has five studs, one in the
center and the others in the four corners.
As mentioned before, the keyboard in all Italian
spinettine,harpsichords, and clavichords projects from
the front of the case instead of receding, as is the rule in
Flemish virginals. This design leaves two large rec-
tangles, left and right of the keyboard (Figures 14, 15).
Both are decorated in "real" intarsia, meaning an inlay ._
r1 _T
composed of different woods of various colors, instead
of the cheaper mock intarsia, in which the whole area
is of one single piece of wood made to resemble a real
inlay of contrasting color sections-achieved by run-
ning slight grooves meant to simulate the glue joints of
the supposed sections, which are then colored different-
ly. Both panels have similar patterns, the right one
(Figure I4) tending more toward plant forms. Both
patterns are designed in double symmetry: left-right
as well as top-bottom; they emanate from dolphins ar-
ranged in pairs in the center. These dolphins, stemming wdldi
NWM
from Lombard candelabra designs, are arranged dif- -- ---.- ...
I. ---
ferently in each of the two intarsia panels. In the left Adhh. r Am- 17"FAM:Aft I m-S. AWL I .

panel (Figure I5), each dolphin-there are actually FIGURES I2, 13

four because of the mirror reflection-has ribbons Details of stars in the Gothic tracery above the
sprouting from its tail and its snout. A little more keyboard
complicated is the center design in Figure I4. Each
quarter of the whole intarsia design has two intercon-
necting dolphins-one dark and one light-resulting Damiano da Bergamo (Figure i6) in the I540os. Both
in eight dolphins because of symmetrical reflection. of these artists had been apprentices of Fra Sebastiano
Each dolphin sprouts ribbons; moreover, each white da Rovigo in Venice. Also very close to our patterns
dolphin's tongue, terminating in a spiral, connects are some of the designs (Figures 17-I9) by the North
another spiral, which is nothing less than the upcurving Italian Master F., tentatively identified by Rudolf
snout of the neighboring dark dolphin. Berliner3as Domenico da Sera, called il Franciosino.
Both intarsias employ a methodic graduation from The keyboard is protected, left and right, by pro-
dark to light, represented by maple, gum, pearwood, jecting walls (Figures 20, 2I). Their outsides show
poplar, mahogany, and ebony. spiral tendrils painted in gold on blue ground, recalling
The interlacing design of the ornaments is clearly in Venetian enamel patterns on metal (see Figure 21)-
the Lombard-Venetian tradition. One finds similar On top of these walls are carvings analogous to the
patterns in the work of intarsiatoriwho had studied in armrestsin early cinquecento choir stalls, which are to
Venice. I should like to mention here only two be found, for instance, in Santa Maria Maggiore in
examples: some of the ornamental intarsia panels in Bergamo, in the cathedral of Pisa, and in Santa Maria
the altar bench in the apse of the church of San Dome- in Organo in Verona. The inside and outside of these
nico in Bologna, made by Giovanni da Verona in
Santa Maria in Organo in the I52os and by Fra 3. Ornamentale
Vorlageblatter(Leipzig, I925) pp. 84-85.

IOI
 FIGURES 14, 15
Intarsia panels on the right and left of
the keyboard

FIGURE I6
Detail of the intarsia panels in an altar
bench in the church of San Domenico,
Bologna (photo: Villani & Figli)

FIGURES I7-I9 (OPPOSITE, ABOVE)

Ornamental patterns attributed to Domenico da Sera, called il Franciosino. From Rudolf
Berliner, Ornamentale
Vorlageblatter(Leipzig, 1925) pls. 84, 85

FIGURES 20, 21 (OPPOSITE)

Carved walls protecting the left and right ends of the keyboard

102
 t

"
.
"
'
*. .. :,k.''-

*-*
*-^' ?-^ff
/"'* i

_~~~~~~~~~ ! .
 NW
. , ,
11
f- A- .?- I
".f.:l
.1

FIGURE 22
Inscription on the back of the wooden strip carrying the motto

carved walls show leaves and fruit in relief. Perched on D'Urbino L'anno di Nostra Salute I540 e pagata. 250
them is a snake intertwining its tail with that of a Scudi Romani." ("Commissioned by and made for
dolphin, the body of which is covered by fin-like leaves. Her Excellency, the [Lady] Duchess of Urbino in the
Riding on the snout of the dolphin is a goat-footed year of our Redemption I540 and paid for with 250
female winged monster. Roman scudi.") (Figure 22).
Characteristic of the decoration are the numerous This is more information than we usually glean from
little ivory studs scattered all over the instrument, or old keyboard instruments, but unfortunately the name
rather-more precisely-attached to the upper rim of of the maker is not mentioned. This is an exceptionally
the case, to the corners of the decorative panels on the beautiful instrument, and the price mentioned was a
inside of the case, and to the center section of the front large one at the time of manufacture. As we know,
wall. Venice had a substantial number of good instrument
Viewing the different decorative patterns employed makers at the time, but there is no instrument extant
in this instrument stemming from vocabularies as dif- that would give us a clue or a basis for comparing shape
ferent and distant as Gothic, arabesque, certosina, and and decoration.4
Venetian textile design, one must admire the skill by
which they are all absorbed and incorporated into one Knowing the place and date of manufacture, and even
pleasing homogeneous scheme of decoration, which by the name of the person who ordered it, invites us to
itself strikes the eye as typical middle cinquecento by place the instrument into its historic environment, the
virtue of its neat, symmetrical arrangement of rec- cultural life of the time, the musical tradition, and the
tangular compartments. role it may have played among the interests of its
Not the least effective part of the decoration is the owner, Eleonora the Duchess of Urbino.
motto painted in large, gold letters on blue ground She was born in 1493 in Mantua, one of the leading
over the keyboard (see Figures 7, I I): towns in music and the arts, the first child of Francesco

Riccho son d'oro-et riccho son di suono, Gonzaga, the ruler of Mantua, and the celebrated
Non mi sonar si tu non ha del buono. Isabella d'Este, one of the most attractive, as well as
(Rich am I in gold and rich in sound, gifted, women of the age.
Play me not, if no good tune is found.) Eleonora's early years at the glamorous court of
Mantua must have been rich in cultural impressions,
Left and right of the motto, the place and date of
but her life was not a happy one. Her relations with her
manufacturing are painted: VENETIIS-MDXL.
mother were never very warm, perhaps because-as
The impatient fingers of the connoisseur will want
we know from letters-her mother had hoped to
to slide up and remove the front board to gain direct
please her husband with a boy. When she was in her
access to the rear of the keys and the inside of the
sixth year, the political power game began to affect her
soundbox. However, the front board does not move,
life. The queen of France offered to take her there for
being firmly glued to the soundbox. It is the wooden
education. This offer, repeated in later years but al-
strip carrying the motto that turns out to be removable
-it is attached to the instrument by three small
movable pegs. Its back harbors a surprise. There is a 4. My search for the maker-unsuccessful up to now-was the
reason for postponing the publication of a monograph on this
long inscription in ink, in Italian chancery of the time: instrument. A hypothesis pointing toward the Venetian workshop
"Ordinata e Fatta per Sua Eccelenza la Sig.raDuchesa of the famous Lorenzo Gusnasco da Pavia will be mentioned later.

I04
ways refused, was only one of many political devices until 1549, surviving her great mother by only ten
to tie Mantua to the political aspirations of France in years.
Italy. To use children as hostages to guarantee reliable Two portraits of Eleonora have survived. The first,
political attitudes on the part of their parents was not by Lorenzo Costa, painted in I508, now in the col-
uncommon in Renaissance politics. In Eleonora's lection of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, shows the
eleventh year, 1505, after long negotiations, she was lovely face of a young woman with a meditative expres-
betrothed to the three-years-older Francesco Maria sion and unhappy eyes5 (Figure 23). The date of the
della Rovere-the nephew of PopeJulius II-who was
destined to become Duke of Urbino after the death of
Guidobaldo da Montefeltro. The betrothal was cele- 5. There is some close resemblance to her features in the left of
the two allegorical figures sitting in the foreground of the allegorical
brated by a magnificent ceremony of merely official painting which Lorenzo Costa made in 1506 for the studiolo of
character in Rome in the absence of the betrothed Isabella d'Este and which-without convincing reasons-is usually
called The Court of Muses of Isabella d'Este. It would certainly
couple, since they were too young for the consum-
seem quite possible that Costa would have introduced Isabella's
mation of marriage. daughter into this scene, which no doubt must have been discussed
In 1508, after the sudden death of the last Monte- with Isabella. Georg Gronau, in "Frauenbildnisse des Mantuaner
feltro, Francesco Maria della Rovere became Duke of Hofes von Lorenzo Costa," PantheonI (1928) p. 241, goes so far as
to consider both female figures in the foreground as transfigured
Urbino and visited Mantua to meet his future bride for
portraits (verklarteAbbilder)of Eleonora and Isabella.
the first time. The actual wedding took place in the
following year in Urbino. The departure of Eleonora
from her paternal home was not without strain: the
court was in financial straits, but Eleonora, independ-
ent and adamant far beyond her age, insisted success-
fully on immediate cash payment of her dowry. Eleo-
nora was only fifteen years old then, and the brutality
of the marriage customs of the time appears sadly in
letters of a court secretary, which report an early
morning visit of the duke's mother to the bridal
chamber to inquire into the bride's emotional reaction
to the wedding night.
Her marriage was beset with tragic events. The pow-
er struggle in Italy between the Holy See, France, and
Venice threatened the independence of Urbino. Leo X
decided to capture it. In advance, Isabella d'Este
traveled to Rome to intervene with the Pope, but in
15I6 Urbino fell to the papal army. Eleonora and her
little son, Guidobaldo, took refuge in Mantua. In 1517
Francesco Maria recaptured Urbino but had soon to
give it up again and reconquered it only in 1522 during
the interregnum after the death of Leo X.
Meanwhile, Eleonora lived an unhappy existence,
penniless at her father's court in Mantua. Moreover,
she was gravely ill, suffering from a lingering disease,
which she had acquired from her husband. Her eye-
sight was seriously threatened, forcing her to withdraw FIGURE 23
gradually into religious seclusion. In 1538 Francesco Portrait of Eleonora d'Este, attributed to Loren-
Maria suddenly died and Eleonora's mother died the zo Costa, I 508. English Royal Collection. Crown
following year. Ill and in retirement, Eleonora lived copyright

105
picture can be precisely established by a letter of
October I, 1508, of Eleonora's father to Lorenzo Costa,
in which he said, "Se havete finito il ritratto di Leonora
nostra figlia mandatecelo fora, perche lo volemo ve-
dere." The second, painted by Titian in I538 (Figure
24), now in the Uffizi, shows her similarly withdrawn,
with an introverted expression. The mouth has ac-
quired a somewhat hard and disappointed look. She
was forty-five years old at the time-this was two years
before our instrument was built.
It is in her last sad period that she must have com-
missioned our spinettina, and we may safely assume
that music was her great consolation through these
years and brought back many memories of feasts and
concerts in Mantua and Urbino.
The girlhood years of Eleonora at the court of the
Gonzagas in Mantua must have been extraordinarily
rich in musical impressions and stimuli. The Mantuan
court was famous for its musical life. A great number of
celebrated composers and performers were employed
FIGURE
there or visited there-for instance, Josquin, A. Agri- 24

cola, Bartolommeo Tromboncino, the virtuoso on the Portrait of Eleonora, Duchess of Urbino, by
trombone, and the famous singer and composer Mar- Titian, I538. Uffizi (photo: Alinari)
chetto Cara, to mention only a few. Many famous
musical spectacles, such as rappresentazioni and inter-
medii,were performed there-for instance, the "Fabula and we know from contemporary records that she saw
d'Orfeo" by Polizian,6 in which the favorite pupil of to it that her little four-year-old daughter received
Leonardo da Vinci, Atalante Migliorotti, played a instruction in the saltarelloand other dances.9 Her
leading role in I490 reciting "sulla lira," that is, the rooms in the ducal palace, whose soul she was, and
lira da braccio,7that exquisite seven-string fiddle taught their decoration speak of music. The intarsias in her
to Atalante by Leonardo. famous studiolo include representations of beautiful
Eleonora's mother, the marchesa, was herself a pas- musical instruments-for instance, a lira da braccio,
sionate and well-trained musician, an expert singer, guitar, and various wind instruments. The "grotta"
and a performer on the lute and various keyboard beneath it, a small room serving to house her col-
instruments such as the clavichord, the spinettina, and lections-and certainly also some of her exquisite musi-
the organetto. Of her taste in commissioning beautiful cal instruments-showed in its ceiling decoration a
instruments for herself, we will speak later. She studied musical motto: a symbolic combination of notes and
lute with several masters-first with Girolamo Sextula pauses and four musical clefs, all on a five-line staff.
from Ferrara, and later with the celebrated Giovanni This was the environment in which little Eleonora
Angelo Testagrossa.8 She was familiar with the many grew up to her sixteenth year, and one can well imagine
dances of the time, some of them quite complicated, the early musical experiences that she retained in her
memory during her later life in Urbino and Venice.
6. See Emanuel Winternitz, "Orpheus als Musikallegorie in In Urbino also, music was held in high regard at the
Renaissance und Fruehbarock," Die Musik in GeschichteundGegen- court as well as in the church. The great Federigo da
wart, Volume 10 (I962) s.v. Orpheus, B. Montefeltro (I422-1482) had been a musical con-
7. See Emanuel Winternitz, "Lira da Braccio," Die Musik in
GeschichteundGegenwart,Volume 8 (1 960).
8. Jan Lauts, Isabellad'Este (Hamburg, 1952) p. 54. 9. Ibid.

io6
noisseuro1and had employed a considerable number of others'3 and later in paintings by Titian and Paolo
distinguished performers,vocal as well as instrumental, Veronese. There we find an abundance of lutes, cit-
whose names have come down to us. Of his special terns, viols, lire da braccio, harps, psalteries, shawms,
taste, an interesting record can be found in Vespasiano cromornes, transverse flutes, recorders, cornetti, trum-
da Bisticci "... dilettavasi piu d'instrumenti sottili che pets, and trombones, to mention only the more fashion-
grossi . . . ma organi e instrumenti sottili li piacevano able ones. In addition, several kinds of keyboard
assai." ("He was fond of soft instruments rather than instruments were used, apart from the organs: clavi-
loud ones, but organs" and small instruments gave him chords (often called manicordior monocordi),and instru-
great pleasure.") Leonardo da Vinci must have been ments with quill action called arpicordi, clavizimbani,
familiar with the many beautiful representations of and spinette. The city government encouraged out-
instrumenti sottiliamong the inlaid walls and doors in the standing instrument makers such as Bastiano da Ve-
ducal palace of Urbino, especially in the studiolo there, rona, Guido Trasuntino,14 and Lorenzo da Pavia.
including the lute, the lira da braccio,and the precisely Significantly, legal protection existed for inventors of
delineated clavichord12(see Figure 6), the earliest rep- new kinds of musical instruments.
resentation in such detail and with such precision of Specialized private collections of musical instru-
this kind of keyboard instrument with forty-seven keys. ments existed very early in Venice. One generation
This intense musical tradition was still very much after Eleonora saw no less than four such treasuries
alive when Eleonora came to Urbino in 1509, and we (studi di musica), as mentioned in Francesco Sansovino's
know that just in that year Francesco Maria called to Venezia Descritta (I58I): the studi (music chambers) of
the Urbino court the famous lutenist Giovanni Maria the Cavaliere Sanudo; of Catarino Zeno, whose col-
da Crema, nicknamed Gianmaria Giudeo, another lection included a precious organ previously owned by
fact attesting to the predilection for strumenti sottili. King Mathias Corvinus of Hungary; of Luigi Balbi;
The third musical city that plays a role in the history and that of Agostino Amadi, containing "non pure
of the owner of our spinettina is Venice. This is not the stromenti alla moderna ma alla Greca et all' antica,"
place to sing the glory of Venetian musical culture in that is, archeological reconstructions which had be-
the cinquecento, but a few hints as to the eminence of come so fashionable with the rise of musical humanism
musical instruments may be appropriate. The surviv- in the late quattrocento.
ing musical scores, sacred as well as secular, and the The name of one of the celebrated Venetian instru-
wealth of artistic representations of music, musical ment makers mentioned above, Lorenzo da Pavia, must
scenes, and musical instruments in paintings, prints, have often been heard by Eleonora during her girl-
and sculpture eloquently testify to the rich instrumen- hood at the ducal palace of Mantua. Lorenzo, whose
tal life of the time. A great variety of beautiful instru- family name was Gusnasco, played an important role
ments appear in the hands of angels in the foregrounds in more than one respect in the artistic activities of
of the sacreconversazioni painted by Giovanni Bellini, Eleonora's mother, Isabella.
Carpaccio, Montagna, Cima da Conegliano, and Gusnasco attracted attention when he still lived in

Io. See Emanuel Winternitz, "Quattrocento Science in the Berichtuberdensiebenten

Instrumentengeschichte," Internationalen
Gubbio Study," The MetropolitanMuseumof Art Bulletin I (1942- KongressK1oln(I958) p. 30I, pl. 9.
Musikwissenschaftlichen
I943) p. 104. 13. See EmanuelWinternitz,"Lirada Braccio,"Die Musikin
I I. Organs here do not mean church organs, but most likely the GeschichteundGegenwart, Volume 8 (I960) and "The Visual Arts
small portable organs that are often depicted in the hands of as a Sourcefor the Historianof Music,"International
Musicological
SocietyCongressReport(1961 ) pp. I I, I 17.
angels, or chamber organs such as those represented in the beauti-
ful intarsias of the studiolo of Federigo from his palace in Gubbio, I4. There are at least four makersof keyboardinstruments
now preserved at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. (See Emanuel
knownwith the name Trasuntino,probablyall related,covering
the span from 1530 to the end of the century. Of Alessandro
Winternitz, Musical Instrumentsand Their Symbolismin WesternArt
Trasuntino,called Alessandrodegli organi, it is known that he
(pl. 47A).
commissioneda portraitfrom Titian in I540, the date of our
I2. See Emanuel Winternitz, "Alcune Rappresentazioni di spinettina,and paid the painterby makinga musicalinstrument
Antichi Strumenti Italiani a Tastiera," CollectaneaII (Florence, for him. AlessandroTrasuntinois also mentionedin the lettersof
1956) pp. 467, 468, and "Quattrocento-Intarsien als Quellen der Aretino.

I07
Pavia as an outstanding maker of instruments, especial- instruments, but also became the trusted and shrewd
ly of lutes, viols, clavichords, and organetti.He was a agent of Isabella for procuring works of art for her col-
master in the art of intarsia, especially in ebony and lection, especially curiosities, antiquities, gems, cameos,
ivory. We mention Gusnasco because there exists a small bronzes, and paintings.
great wealth of revealing documents concerning his A letter of Gusnasco to Isabella in April 15 I 5, pre-
service to the great Lombard courts, and especially to served in the Gonzaga archives, reports the shipping
Isabella d'Este.15Whether Isabella ever met Lorenzo of musical instruments to the marchesa, especially "di
in person is not known, but the rich correspondence liuti, viole, corone, buccettine, teste di morto ed altri
that is preservedfurnishesa great number of interesting soggetti di ebano e di avorio, oltre un bellissimo
musical details. The correspondence began in the gravicembalo."'16 We do not know whether these instru-
I490S. Among other things, a lute was commissioned ments were made by Gusnasco or only procured for the
with a soundhole rose of ebony and ivory, "perche marchesa. In any case, it is significant that keyboard
lebano e lavelio sono doe bele compagnie insieme" instruments were ordered from Venice. "Gravicem-
("because ebony and ivory make beautiful compan- balo" does not mean a heavy or especially large
ions"). harpsichord. The word is rather equivalent, according
In July of I497, Isabella requests a lute "adapted to to the usage of the time, to "clavicembalo," that is,
my voice," but Lorenzo regrets not being able to harpsichord.
oblige her because he cannot find ebony black and The date of Gusnasco's death is not known. The
beautiful enough. He adds, in his somewhat stilted and most interesting treatise by Carlo Dell'Acqua: Lorenzo
subservient style, that he was very disconsolate since Gusnascoe i Lingiardi da Pavia (extract from Perseveranza
he had wanted badly to make that lute, that he was [Milan, I886]), which is based on profound familiarity
certain that he would have made the most beautiful with the Mantuan court archives, suggests 1517 as the
object in Italy or anywhere, and that he had been year of death; other writers some years later. At any
most anxious to please the only person who would have rate, Gusnasco must have died a few years before our
understood the value of those objects-a fact which spinettina was built in Venice, but we may not be too
would have prompted him to produce something excel- far from the truth if we associate the workmanship
lent. revealed by our spinettina-above all, the combination
In I495, Isabella reminds him of a beautiful clavi- of ebony and ivory with other precious woods and the
chord he had made for her sister, Beatrice, Duchess of exquisite marquetry-with the Gusnasco tradition.
Milan, and wants one of equal beauty for herself, add- So much about the shape, decoration, history, and
ing, however, the special wish: "We want only to provenience of our instrument. Musical connoisseurs
request that it should be played easily [that is, with and historians of music will ask how it sounds and
light touch], for we have such a light hand that we can- inquire whether the claim made by the motto painted
not play well if we have to strain our hand because of on the front board, "Rich am I in sound," is really true.
the resistance of the keys. Please understand our wish The spinettina is in perfect playing condition and has
and what we need: make it in the same shape as you a crisp, silvery, and-considering its modest dimensions
are accustomed. The faster you serve us, the more we -surprisingly clear and loud tone. Yet such an as-
will be pleased." Isabella was kept informed of the sertion, like all verbalizations of tonal qualities, is insuf-
progress of the work. Incidentally, after Beatrice's ficient. We hope that in the near future, at one of the
death in Milan, Isabella managed to acquire her clavi- demonstrations in the galleries of musical instruments,
chord also. our spinettina will appear as one of the protagonists,
Lorenzo da Pavia spent his last years in Venice, and emitting the voice that must have charmed, four
not only continued there the manufacture of beautiful hundred years ago, its listeners in Venice and Urbino.
15. See especially A. Luzio, "Isabella d'Este e la corte Sforza," A. Luzio and R. Renier, "La cultura e le relazioni letterarie di
ArchivioStoricoLombardo(1 901 ); A. Luzio and R. Renier, Mantova Isabella d'Este Gonzaga," Giornalestoricodella letteraturaItaliana,
e Urbino(Torino, I893); A. Luzio and R. Renier, "Delle Relazioni passim.
di Isabella d'Este Gonzaga con Lodovico 'e Beatrice Sforza," 16. Quoted in Antonio Bertolotti, Artisti in relazionecoi Gonzaga
ArchivioStoricoLombardo(I890) pp. 74 ff., pp. 364 if., pp. 614 if.; Signoridi Mantova(Modena, i885) p. o108.

io8
 Patrons of Robert Adam

at the Metropolitan Museum

.JAMES PARKER

Curatorof WesternEuropean
Arts, TheMetropolitan
Museumof Art

A RELATIVELY happy course through life could have Sir John Soane's Museum, London.2 The architect
been predicted for Lord Frederick Campbell (Figure inscribed this sketch across the top: "Design of a Book-
i) at birth. Among the advantages bestowed upon case for The Right Honourable Lord Frederick Camp-
him then were intelligence, good looks, longevity (his bell" (Figure 2).
own life span of eighty-seven years was to surpass that The piece of furniture that was executed from this
of his father, who lived to be seventy-seven, and of his design is now at the Metropolitan Museum (Figure 3).
brother who died at the age of eighty-three in I 8o6, ten It is of pine, stained to resemble mahogany, with parts
years before himself), and an assured position, as the of the carved detail highlighted by gilding. The two
youngest son of a Scottish duke-to-be, in the social doors below open on two cupboards, while the upper
hierarchy of the time. Born in 1729, the fourth son of section consists of two compartments each enclosed be-
the heir to the dukedom of Argyll, he was educated at hind a glass-fronted door. The insertion of panes of
Westminster School and at Christ Church, Oxford, glass into these doors constitutes the most glaring de-
receiving permission to practice law in 1753. He chose parture from Adam's design, where the spaces be-
to enter politics as a Scottish Member of Parliament, tween the upper door frames are occupied by a kind of
and represented Glasgow and Argyllshire from 1761 trelliswork picked out in yellow wash on a light blue
until I799.1 It was therefore possibly in London, early ground. Obviously Adam never intended that glass
in his political career, that he met a fellow countryman, should be used in the doors: the books were to be
Robert Adam, who had settled there in I 758. protected by a metal grid, presumably of polished
A strong fellow feeling existed at that time among brass, behind which would hang a blue silk curtain,
the Scots who lived in London. Numbers of them were intended as a sort of dust sheet for the books (the prac-
in the habit of foregathering at the British Coffee tice of stretching silk artfully across shelves of books
House in Cockspur Street, a building designed by persisted well into the following century-as the
Robert Adam, to discuss affairs of the nation, their cabinetmaker George Smith observes of a bookcase
nation. However Lord Frederick and Robert Adam design published in I828:3 "The central part with the
happened to meet, it is certain that they were acquaint- wings, is represented as having the doors filled with
ed by 1767, the date written on the sketch for a book- silk ... for nothing can distress the eye more than the
case, one of the large collection of Adam drawings in 2. Soane Mus., Adam Drawings,XVII, no. 215.
i. Paul, The ScotsPeerage,I, p. 384. 3. Smith, Cabinet-Maker
and Upholsterer'sGuide,p. 208, pl. CXLII.

IO9

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve, and extend access to
Metropolitan Museum Journal ®
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 day.4 Instead he may have chosen keyhole covers for
the two sets of doors from his own stock on hand.
Whatever the case, apart from these factors, the re-
semblance of Adam's drawing to the finished product
is quite close-the dimensions are even the same: the
baseboard of the bookcase measures six feet across, the
exact width indicated in the scale on the lower edge of
the drawing.
In this drawing, Adam has finished off the top of the
bookcase with a pair of vases and a sculptured head of
a boy, evocations of classical antiquity which the
architect was able to supply from his imagination. Such
elements are mute witness of his ability "to seize ... the
beautiful spirit of antiquity, and to transfuse it, with
novelty and variety . . ."5 Both the drawing and the
three-dimensional piece of furniture exhibit other free-
ly interpreted classicizing motifs: guilloche mouldings
and flutings, husk festoons, rosettes and paterae, tro-
phies of urns and shields. In executing this decoration,
the woodcarver's chisel has not attenuated the strong
rectangular lines of the bookcase, which stands as solid
evidence of Robert Adam's maturing style.
As was his custom when designing furniture, Adam
must have had a specific setting for the bookcase in
mind before taking the sketch in hand. Primarily an
architect, he largely concerned himself with the faSades
and floor plans of buildings. Like other architects of the
time, however, he annexed the province of what is now
FIGURE I the interior decorator, surpassing himself in efforts to
Lord Frederick Campbell, by Sir Henry Rae- design subtly harmonious interiors for his architecture.
burn, Scottish, about 1810. General Register Thus it seems likely that the bookcase, as well as an
House, Edinburgh (photo: Francis C. Inglis & unidentified cabinet and mirror with similar deco-
Sons Ltd) ration, which appear in another drawing, also dated
1767 and inscribed "For Lord Frederick Campbell,"
were intended as part of a scheme for a room in Lord
sight of a countless number of volumes occupying one Frederick's house, Combe Bank, in Kent.6
entire space."). At an indeterminate date this grid- This house, which stands, much altered, a few miles
and-curtain device must have been discarded in favor to the west of Sevenoaks, was built for General John
of the more revealing glass, set into the door frames as Campbell, Lord Frederick's father, by the architect
they now appear. The keyhole covers, as executed, Roger Morris. Upon his succession to the dukedom in
represent another divergence from the sketch: a gilt- 176 I, General Campbell relinquished the house, which
bronze oval rosette has replaced the elongated-husk consisted of a typical Palladian structure with square
motif shown in the drawing. Economy might have
suggested this change. The London cabinetmaker who
was responsible for the bookcase may have hesitated to
4. Boynton, FurnitureHistory,II, pp. 25-26.
commission a specially designed mount from a foundry I; preface, p. 6.
5. Adam, Worksin Architecture,
in Birmingham, as was the extravagant practice of the 6. Soane Mus., Adam Drawings, XX, no. 31.

IIO
 .

FIGURE 3
Bookcase. Pine, stained to resemble mahogany.
Made for Lord Frederick Campbell's house,
Combe Bank, in Kent. English, about 1767. H. 7
' -
* J ft. iY
I in. The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
' -"p'-^^ *T._^ W '/ Xt' . .n. ? : _ iii L
Cadwalader Fund, 17.1 II . I
aS^'-'".A 7y ff pf^ gj

'if-f
..^i^i tirf

,' . , :.v':

' _ X...w-
I.. S..'. : . -.;.,, . _,';....
' f. -:-_i~ .,,;'-. a '.,., b ..'-,' ,,,.f;
i '-:,-.:t'
'.'.' i' ,
J'JJHJiiX J'^ Ufie7iW'l F ^... -:

..... .............. ..... .

FIGURE 2

Pen and wash drawing of a bookcase, signed by

Robert Adam. Scottish, dated 1767. Sir John riage in a letter to George Montagu, dated March 26,
Soane's Museum, London (photo: R. B. Fleming 1769: "Lord Frederick Campbell is, at last, to be mar-
& Co. Ltd) ried this evening to the Dowager Countess of Ferrers."8
The new Lady Campbell had been married before,
corner turrets,7to his younger son, who subsequently but was already separated from her first husband,
asked Adam to supply drawings for a remodeling Laurence, fourth Earl Ferrers,when he shot his steward
scheme of modest proportions. in a fit of rage, a crime for which he was sentenced to
The main lines of Lord Frederick'slife and character the gallows. Horace Walpole details the carrying out of
are well known from observations in memoirs and let- this sentence in a letter, dated May 7, I 760, written to
ters of the time. When scarcely more than a boy he Horace Mann in Florence,9that opens with the rousing
made the acquaintance of Horace Walpole, twelve query: "What will your Italians say to a peer of Eng-
years his senior, whom he was to encounter over a land, an earl of one of the best families, tried for
period of fifty years (Walpole named him an executor murdering his servant, with the utmost dignity and
in the will that he drew up in 1796). A bachelor until solemnity, and then hanged at the common place of
the age of forty, it was Walpole who signaled his mar-
8. Walpole,Letters,VII, p. 264.
7. Woolfe and Gandon, VitruviusBritannicus,IV, p. 9, figs. 75-77. 9. Walpole, Letters,IV, p. 378.

III
execution for highwaymen, and afterwards anato- feet in length, representsAdam's only projectfor a large
mized?" The streets of London were thronged with public building ever to be brought to completion (it
spectators hoping to see the condemned man ride in a still stands at the corner of Prince's Street, across from
carriage procession from the Tower of London to the General Post Office in Edinburgh). Its massive
Tyburn, and it was on this occasion that Earl Ferrers scale contrasts with the work of small scope but great
is reported to have uttered the famous extenuating delicacy which Robert Adam carried out for Lord
words, "But they never saw a lord hanged, and perhaps Frederick's personal account.
will never see another." Sir Henry Raeburn painted the best-known portrait
According to another account, Lord Frederick at- of Lord Frederick Campbell, which now hangs in the
tended the trial as a lawyer, and caught the firstglimpse great rotunda of the Register House (Figure i). Other
of his future wife when she appeared on the witness portraits were painted by Thomas Gainsborough and
stand to give evidence. Be that as it may, a few years Sir Thomas Lawrence, all of which show him seated,
were suffered to elapse before he married her in 1769, and wearing the robes of the Lord Clerk Register. Ap-
and took her off to live at Combe Bank. parently Lord Frederick's qualities were not eclipsed
In the year before his marriage, Lord Frederick with the passing of youth. Sir Nathaniel Wraxall de-
had been named Lord Clerk Register of Scotland, a scribed him as "still elegant and distinguished even in
position that carried with it responsibility for all the decay,"11while the English painter and diarist Joseph
Scottish public records. A new building to house these Farington could write of him in 18I I:
records was badly needed, and in I769 Robert Adam
Lord Frederick Campbell, brother to the late Duke
was commissioned to draw up plans that began to take of Argyll, came at noon and staid till the even'g.-He
material shape in June 1774, when Lord Fredericklaid is 82 years of age, but excepting much deafness seemed
the foundation stone of the Register Housel? (Figure 4). to have nothing to complain of but the natural effects
This block-like structure, with its front two hundred of Old age. He residesat Coombe bank near Sevenoaks,
and abt. 12 miles from Red Leaf.
io. Bolton, The Architectureof Robert& James Adam, II, pp.
221-235. i . Wraxall, Posthumous
Memoirs,I, p. 247.

FIGURE 4
Facade of the Register House, Edinburgh. Built from designs by Robert Adam, I769-1788. Engraving
from The Works in Architectureof Robertand James Adam, I (London, 1775)

1./

__z..
. .
i effiaT'

.. .i

7- - -- . . --
_-:__-
--- ..-- ..
_.,a.._.a_.j

c^

112
 I remarked that Lord Frederick at table did not
forbearfrom high dishes. He ate soup,-stewed Carp-
Roast Pork, rich pye, and at dinner drank three glasses
of Madeira. After dinner He ate grapes, and drank
abt. 2 glasses of Madeira....
Lord Frederick is reckoned to be a sensible man, He
was long in Parliament in which He never spoke but
twice, but those speeches raised His credit as they were
made with considerable ability.-His understanding
and agreeable manners have made Him much in
request in Society. He has had many fancies in build-
ing, furnishing, &c. which have been expensive, and
has always been in consequence of these indulgencies
somewhat distressed, at least has had no superfluity.12
In I759 Lord Frederick's older brother, the future
fifth Duke of Argyll, had married Elizabeth Gunning,
one of the two sisters renowned for their beauty. It
cannot be said that Elizabeth Gunning's looks did not
receive their due: the daughter of a penniless Irishman,
she married into two Scottish ducal families, and was
the mother of no fewer than four Scottish dukes. Her
equally beautiful sister Maria, though she fell short of
this mark, was accounted to have made an excellent
match when, in 1752, she took George William, sixth
Earl of Coventry (Figure 5), as her husband. Un- FIGURE 5
fortunately "the charming countess," as Walpole called George William, sixth Earl of Coventry, by Allan
her, survived only eight years of married life. Her Ramsay. Scottish, 1764. Croome Estate Trust
death at the age of twenty-seven in 1760 was laid to the
overuse of cosmetics containing poisonous white lead
ner in Margaret Street, and has been most excellent in
pigment.
his old way of disputation."15 "The countess . . . will,
At the time of his first marriage, Horace Walpole
about the end of the nine months, do credit to our
described the Earl of Coventry (I 722-I809) as ". . . a
friend, who goes on just as usual, opposing and disput-
grave young lord, of the remains of the Patriot breed."13
ing with every person, every night at the old club
The rare qualities implied by this description seem
[White's], to the no small surprise of some new mem-
never to have been realized. Instead Lord Coventry
bers .... ."6 "This house is full of tobacco; the yard is
became increasingly pedantic, overbearing, and self-
full of tenants, and the peer, with an important face, is
centered as he grew older. These characteristics
telling us how much he pays to the land-tax."17
emerge from the letters which George James "Gilly"
The "house" referred to in these letters was, of course,
Williams wrote to George Selwyn, describing the
Croome Court, the earl's country seat in Worcester-
Earl's new menage (he married his second wife, Bar-
shire (Figure 6; the name derives from the ancient
bara St. John, in 1764), ".. . but as to his lordship, he
British word crombe, meaning "the winding stream,"
certainly surpasses all you can conceive of him: his
applicable to a nearby brook). The exterior architec-
plantations, his house, his wife, his plate, his equipage,
ture and some of the interiors of this house were the
his-etc., etc., etc.,-are all topics that call forth his
genius continually."14 "Coventry has given us one din- 15. Letter of January 4, 1765; Jesse, Memoirsof GeorgeSelwyn,I,
p. 342.
I 2. TheFarington
Diary,VII, pp. 49-51. I6. Letter of February 22, 1765; Jesse, Memoirsof GeorgeSelwyn,
I 3. Walpole, Letters,III, p. 85. I, p. 361.
I 4. Letter of October 8, 1764; Jesse, Memoirsof GeorgeSelwyn,I, I 7. Letter of October 2 1, 1765 ;Jesse, Memoirsof GeorgeSelwyn,I,
p. 306. p. 412.

II3
 _'~~~ ~ FIGURE 6
Detail of Croome Court, Worcestershire, by
Richard Wilson. Welsh, I758. Croome Estate
Trust

FIGURE 7
Table and mirror. Painted pine. Made for the
Gallery at Croome Court. English, I 765. H. of
table 2 ft. I I'2 in. H. of mirror x x ft. 8 in. The
Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fletcher Fund,
65.I27, 60.3I1.2

work of Lancelot "Capability" Brown, better known k

for his landscaping schemes. In 1760, however, Brown
was replaced by Robert Adam, who was asked to sup- -
i -"-., '*
ply plans for the remaining rooms, and to put the
finishing touches to the decoration of the house.18The - -
Metropolitan Museum is fortunate in owning a com-
plete room from this house, the Tapestry Room, the
architecture of which is largely due to Adam (this '
room, its Gobelins tapestries, and its furniture, all the
gift of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation in I958, are
described in DecorativeArtfrom theSamuelH. KressCol-
'
lectionat the MetropolitanMuseum,by Carl Christian ,
Dauterman, James Parker, and Edith Appleton i -
Standen [London, 1964] pp. 2-57). i
Since that time the Museum has been able to acquire i
two more pieces of furniture from Croome Court, a
table and mirrorof carved and painted pine (Figure 7),
one of a pair that was formerly placed against the piers
of the window wall in the Gallery at Croome. This room
occupied the space behind the east front, on the main i,:
floor of the side of the house facing the bridge in
Wilson's painting (Figure 6).. * -
In 1760-1761, Adam supplied a preliminary design
"for finishing the Gallery at Croome in the Manner of
a Library."'19This plan was abandoned, and in June
1763, he charged Lord Coventry Ci6 i6S for a design
"To a New Section of the Gallery finished in the
Antique Taste with Statues Bas Reliefs &c." This

8. Bolton, The Architecture of Robert & James Adam, I, pp. 178-

i19.E c from Adam's

19. Extract A s bills at
a Croome
o t
Estate f
Office, o_.
Worces-
tershire.

II4
F

. '
-) '.. i.1..'

.... .. .. L. ;. '
=-va. .-,-

FIGURE 8
Pen and wash plan and elevation of the Gallery at Croome Court, by Robert Adam, 1763. SirJohn Soane's
Museum, London (photo: R. B. Fleming & Co. Ltd)

drawing, inscribed "Room for Lord Coventry," is also outlines for the execution of these tables. The Earl of
in Sir John Soane's Museum20 (Figure 8). It shows Northumberland, who was carrying out alterations on
most of the features of the room as it was carried out, Syon House at this time, might have rejected this draw-
and includes a sketchy indication of the chimneypiece ing, whereupon the architect may have submitted the
commissioned from the sculptor Joseph Wilton, as well same design to Lord Coventry. Whatever the procedure
as ten niches for figures of standing classical subjects, followed, Adam certainly prepared a sketch and his
which were to be modeled in stucco by John Cheere office furnished a large-scale working drawing of both
(two of these figures have recently been acquired by pieces of furniture. His bills, which are among the many
the Los Angeles County Museum2l). This drawing, building and furnishing accounts kept by Lord Coven-
furthermore, clearly depicts a pair of tables and mir- try (now the property of the Croome Estate Trust),
rors against the window wall. contain the following entries, under the date July
The Museum's mirror derives quite closely from one 1765:
of the mirrors shown in this sketch. The design for the
Design of a Glass frame for the Gallery at Croome
tables shown under the mirrors was, however, not used;
?5 5s.
a separate drawing in the same collection, dated 1765 Drawings at full size of the parts of ditto for the
and inscribed "Table frame for the Drawing Room at execution ?2 2s.
Sion"22 (Figure 9), seems to have provided the main Design of a Table frame for the Gallery at Croome
?33s.
20. Soane Mus., Adam Drawings, L, no. 9. Drawing of ditto at large ?Fi Is.
2 1. Norman-Wilcox, LosAngelesCountyMuseumof Art Bulletin17,
no. 3 (I965) pp. I4-31. These highly pertinent drawings seem unfortunately
22. Soane Mus., Adam Drawings, XVII, no. 4. to have disappeared, and may have been destroyed.

II5
 *
b ~-- -^ ,
... .....r .-* r ....

9. P.)ET

FIGURE 9
Pen and wash drawing of a table, probably the original sketch for the pair of tables in the Gallery, Croome
Court, by Robert Adam, I 765. Sir John Soane's Museum, London (photo: R. B. Fleming & Co. Ltd)

Adam's bill was closely followed by one from the [fascia] between-at top a Ornament with 2 Carvd
woodcarver Sefferin Alken for the execution of the Scroles foilage & floroons &c. a rich vase between
tables and mirrors.23 This bill is dated August I 765, and scroles-a Cove Cornice richly carvd-under Do. a
frize with foilage & Ornamts. at ends-the bottom
reads:
Ornamt. Carvd rich foilage & flowers A honey suckel
Carvers Work done for the Right Honble. the Earl & floron between, a large Oge [ogee moulding, i.e.,
of Coventry pr. Seffn. Alken, to long Gallery at Croome an S-curve] over Do. with raffeld Lfe. [raffle = acan-
two Table frames to Slabs 7 ft. long by 2 ft. o wide, thus leaf] and water Lfes.-the side pieces Carvd a
the legs panneld a Ornamt. in Do. [ditto] a Womans Womans head, large scrole with foilage & husks, a
head over it & flower top & bottom &c. the Mouldings festoon of Leaves droping on profile, part &c. Extent
to Raile Enrichd, and a rich fret between,-Oramts. of Work i ft. 6 In. high by 5 ft. IO In. wide. Each at
under the Raile-between the legs festoons of husks in ?33 16s.
swags & Drops with foilage &c. [these motifs between
the legs are missing, though traces of them can be seen From the wording of this bill it is evident that the
under the apron of the table- the drawing dated 1765, marble "Slabs" for the two tables and the glass "Plates"
Figure 9, conveys an impression of these lost elements] for the pair of mirrors were on hand before the furniture
Each at ?25 I3s . . . two glass frames over Do. Tables to itself materialized.
Plates 7 ft. long by 4 ft. wide.-A Archite. [architrave] The two table tops of green brecciated marble, cut
round 3 members Carvd, and Rich ornament to facica
in sheets and veneered on a cement core, may have
23. Extract from bills at Croome Estate Office. been acquired by Lord Coventry from James Adam,

i 6
 Robert's younger brother. Between I760 and I763, In I 959 the Museum was able to buy the pair of mir-
James Adam lived in Italy where he carried on a rors, which until then had hung on the walls of the Gal-
genteel trade in art works and executed a number of lery at Croome. They were shown in a room of late
commissions for Englishmen. During that time he is eighteenth-century English furniture until 1965, when
known to have supplied just such marble slabs for an exchange was effected with the Philadelphia Mu-
Croome Court.24 seum, the purchaser, twenty years before, of the two
The mirror glass, on the other hand, was probably tables designed to stand under them. That trade of a
ordered in France. Large plates of glass, suitable for mirror for a table has made it possible for each museum
mirrors, were then prohibitively expensive-they to exhibit one group of this very fine documented furni-
might cost five or six times as much as their frames- ture.28
and were often imported from Paris. This was because The last of Adam's clients is William Petty Fitzmau-
French craftsmen at this time had mastered, to a far rice (i739-i805), second Earl of Shelburne, created
greater degree than the English, the technique of cast- first Marquis of Lansdowne in I784 (Figure Io). Of
ing such plates. Lord Coventry visited Paris in I763 the three patrons treated in this article, he was un-
and I 764, and he may have ordered the mirror glass for deniably the richest (Joseph Farington allowed f5ooo
the Museum's frame at that time. "Gilly" Williams a year to Lord Frederick Campbell; the Earl of Coven-
even makes known his intention to this effect in a letter try confessed to benefiting from annual rents of
dated July I8, I76325: "Cov. is returned to town: he I0,000ooo;Lord Lansdowne, however, was reputed to
stays to relieve the distresses of half a dozen half-
starved vestals, and then talks of setting out for 28. The mirror and table at the Philadelphia Museum are il-
lustrated in Antiques 91 (I967) no. 2, p. 200.
France.... His errand is to buy furniture, to talk of
tapestry and glasses, and to pay for importing a worse
thing than an English courier could have helped him
to."
In addition to carving the table and mirror frames,
Sefferin Alken also carried out a great deal of other
work at Croome. He was, in fact, responsible for the
fine woodcarving on the paneling of the Tapestry
Room. His name is, however, familiar from another
context, for by his second marriage he became the
father of the well-known line of sporting painters that
included Samuel and Henry Thomas Alken.26
The bills that Lord Coventry collected also disclose
the name of the painter who gave the pair of tables and
mirrors four coats of paint. Charles Aylmer's undated
bill, paid on March 8, I768,27 specifies: "No 2 large
Glass frames Very rich Carv'd done 4 times Dead
Stone Colour in Great Room ?2 os.... No 2 Frames
to Sideboards in Do. Richly Carv'd, 4 times done ?i
I6s." Though the painted surface of the Museum's
mirror and table has been renewed, its warm grey tone
still closely approximates this "Dead Stone Colour."

FIGURE I0
24. Fleming,Robert
AdamandhisCircle,p. 376.
William, first Marquis of Lansdowne, by Sir
25. Jesse, Memoirsof GeorgeSelwyn,I, pp. 254-255.
26. Sparrow,A Bookof Sporting Painters,pp. I28-I 29. Joshua Reynolds. English, about I786. Courtesy
27. Extractfrombills at CroomeEstateOffice. of the Marquis of Lansdowne, Bowood, Wiltshire

II7
enjoy a revenue of more than 30,oo000 a year, a Trade for less than a year in 1763, and was subsequent-
huge sum for the time29), and his residence on Berkeley ly named Secretary of State for the Southern Depart-
Square (Figure i), the dining room from which is ment by his preceptor, the Earl of Chatham, an ap-
now at the Metropolitan Museum (Figure I2), was pointment that he held in 1766 and 1767. During the
quite often described as a "palace" in his own lifetime. twelve-year Tory ministry of Lord North, Lord Shel-
Unlike Lord Coventry, who aimed no higher than burne, as he was then called, languished in the relative
the post of Lord of the Bedchamber, and was content obscurity of the opposition, but in July I782 he was
to wield power in local Worcestershireelections, Lord called to form his own ministry, which he headed as
Lansdowne scorned the lesser political roles, and as- First Lord of the Treasury until February 1783.
pired to a position of prominence on the national scene. Although favorable to liberal solutions, and a partisan
His ambition was rewarded by a succession of appoint- of free speech, free trade, a large degree of autonomy
ments, which he held for short intervals over a period for the American colonies, and abolition of discrimi-
of twenty years. He was President of the Board of nation on grounds of religion, he never acquired the
aura of a popular politician. His term as Prime Minis-
29. The FaringtonDiary, I, p. 33. ter, in fact, generated a shower of brilliant invective:

.N.
. -A^ 00-

FIGURE II
Lansdowne House, Berkeley Square, 1763-1768, in a photograph taken about 1922 (photo: Country Life)

FIGURE I2 (OPPOSITE)
The dining room from Lansdowne House, 1766-1768. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund,
32.12 (photo: Taylor & Dull)

II8
6I

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m ,./;
.,~~~~~~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~..........
C l~~~~~,.:.: --''.~~.'.~'"... ...~:.~;
'"_~~~ 4.'" J--.
' '"':
,.
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i~;:., ~" ~"....

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' Iv,
)

C .'. -.,,

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'I

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~~
~~
~~
~~ ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
/7~~

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/s jr, C~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
George III called him "the jesuit of Berkeley Square," peace treaty signed with the United States, effectively
while Horace Walpole could write of him, "his false- put an end to his career.
hood was so constant and notorious that it was rather The building to be known as Lansdowne House owed
his profession than his instrument ....," and Edmund its inception to another Prime Minister, the Earl of
Burke could declare before Parliament, "If Lord Shel- Bute, who had bought a wedge-shaped plot of land
burne was not a Cataline or a Borgia in morals, it must along the southern side of Berkeley Square, extending
not be ascribed to anything but his understanding."30 seventy-five yards to the west. Lord Bute's choice seems
Many of his attitudes were advanced for the time and naturally to have fallen on Robert Adam, a fellow
were widely misrepresented, while his actions were Scotsman, as architect for the house that must actually
uniformly decried as autocratic. A suspicious and con- have been begun during Bute's ministry, which lasted
strained public manner further alienated public opin- from November 176I until April 1763.
ion, and his resignation in 1783, brought about by the It had a favorable situation, set well back in its own
grounds, and was described in I838 as "one of the few
30. Dictionaryof National Biography,XV, p. i o i1. [houses] in London, which, being situated in a garden

FIGURE 13
Pen and wash drawing for the walls of the
dining room at Lansdowne House, 1766, by Robert Adam. Sir
John Soane's Museum, London (photo: R. B. Fleming & Co. Ltd)

I * jttpl
fi fi
ii.jt
I I

,& -
I

, --, - -i
I
i
1: I .8
i L-A 1 = ii--- - --
X, _r . L a IB
i"m-.

120
 which measures 47 feet 2 inches long, 24 feet 6 inches
wide, and I8 feet high, was originally on the ground
floor in the south wing of the house. It lay behind the
round-topped window on the left in the photograph,
Figure I I (the two end walls have since had to be inter-
r4j2ri cy j jtcJ 1B1rM (
^^1ma
changed in order to fit the room into the space assigned
Z- d-, --r_w^ to it at the Museum).
In August 1766, Robert Adam charged Lord Shel-
burne f 12 I2s. "To a design of a section of four sides
* for the dining room"33 (Figure 13). This drawing, also
at the Soane Museum,34 shows the room fitted with
nine niches for classical sculpture, very much as it was
1;A:
Iz
later carried out. Several engraved plates of Lans-
downe House furthermore appear in volume two of
... .
..
. f The Works in Architectureof Robertand James Adam, pub-
R. .' "

lished in London in 1779. The sixth plate of this series

_..;
.)
..4 . 7'
JF
is devoted to details of the "Eating-room" (Figure 14),
i

and shows the woodcarving on the top of a doorcase

and on the base and capital of one of the two columns
in the room. This and the other fine woodcarving in the
room is due to the sculptor John Gilbert (according to
his bills, he also provided carved wood examples of "6
Fig leaves to figures to ye niches . . . at 5s. each"35).
Adam's design of a ribbon weaving around alternating
FIGURE 14
motifs of husks and pendant leaves attached to rosettes
Detail of the ornament in the dining room. En-
(Figure 15), which Gilbert carved on the lintel of the
graving from The Works in Architectureof Robert
doorcase, also occurs on the entablature of the marble
and James Adam, II (London, 1779)
chimneypiece, attributed to the sculptor Thomas
Carter,36 as well as on the plaster frieze, where the
surrounded with walls, unites the advantages of the rosettes and leaves were cast upside down (compare
most fashionable neighborhood with a certain retire-
Figures 14 and I5).
ment, and in the midst of pleasing natural scenery. "31 This anomaly must have resulted from an oversight
In September 1765, Lord Bute sold the partially built on the part of Joseph Rose, who is known to have car-
structure to his fellow peer, Lord Shelburne, then at ried out the plasterwork of the room. For the completed
the outset of his political career. At this time, the future
job, Rose charged the sum of C298 I5s 912.d, the
Marquis of Lansdowne had almost three years to wait largest item in his plastering account.37 The sum seems
before he and his family could move in. Under the date
justified by the effect produced, for the feathery ara-
of August I o, I 768, Lady Shelburne's diary contains
besques of griffins and putti, vases and trophies of arms,
the following notation: "On the ground floor we have marvelous leaf garlands, sprays, rosettes, Vitruvian
the Hall, Antichamber, & Dining Room, which are
quite finished, except for the glasses, the window cur- 33. Bolton, The Architecture
of RobertandJames Adam, II, p. 340.
tains & chairs, which makes it very doubtful if we can 34. Soane Mus., Adam Drawings, XXXIX, no. 56.
ask the King of Denmark to dinner."32 35. Quoted in Bolton, The Architecture of Robert& James Adam,
II, p. 344.
The dining room, an interior of imposing dimensions 36. Carter's account for other chimneypieces which he carved
for Lansdowne House is given in Bolton, The Architectureof Robert
31. Waagen, Worksof Art andArtistsin England,II, pp. 257-258. andJames Adam, II, p. 344.
32. Quoted in Bolton, The Architecture
of Robert& James Adam, 37. Bolton, The Architecture
of Robert& JamesAdam,II, pp. 342-
II, p. 8, pp. 312-314. 344-

121
 originally cast, rather than modeled by hand, is sup-
plied by the surviving boxwood moulds for some of the
plaster motifs to be seen in the room. These reverse
moulds were carved by a man named George Jack-
son,39 and delivered to the team of plasterworkers
headed by Joseph Rose. The moulds must have revert-
ed to the original carver, for some of them are now
owned by his descendants, incorporated under the
name of George Jackson & Sons, and listed in the Lon-
don telephone directory as "Jackson G. & Sons Ltd.
Archtr Relief Dectrs, Rathbone wks, Rainville rd W6."
Upon the death of the first Lord Lansdowne in
1805, his son was obliged to sell the greater part of the
collection of paintings, manuscripts (acquired by the
British Museum), books, and furniture brought to-
gether by his father. The sales of paintings took place
in I8o6, and included works by Rubens, Claude Lor-
rain, and Nicolas Poussin.40 At the same time, between
March 21 and April 2, 8o06,a sale of household effects
was held on the premises of Lansdowne House. The
catalogue of this sale41 contains brief but informative
descriptions of the furnishings of the dining room,
which probably at that time largely consisted of the
original contents bought for it by the first marquis.
According to the list, the dining room was furnished
FIGURE 15 with eighteen "mahogany chairs, stuffed seats and
The chimneypiece, overmantel, and frieze of the backs, covered with Morocco [leather], brass-
dining room. The grisaille scene in the plaster nailed...," several tables including "A set of mahogany
frame is the overmantel painting from the Gal- dining tables, 7 feet 9 by 4 feet 8," a mahogany side-
lery, Croome Court. The Metropolitan Museum board flanked by a pair of urns and pedestals (possibly
of Art, Fletcher Fund, 6o.5oa executed from designs which Robert Adam itemized
in his bill dated August 1766: "To a Design of a Table
scrolls and fan-shaped motifs, cast inplaster,
plaster, constitute frame for the Dining Room, Shelburne House ?3 3s.
one of the glories of this room. They stand out in relief, To a Pedestal and Vase for ditto ?2 2s."42), as well as
heightened by white paint, against the slate-colored "A mahogany wine cooler, brass-hooped, on a stand."
walls (a color scheme that matches quite closely the It seems likely that the "Two [Derbyshire] spar vases,
vestiges of original paint that were uncovered when and a pyramid" mentioned in this catalogue were
areas of the wall surface were analyzed before the room intended for the chimneypiece mantel, while the floor
was opened at the Museum). A drawing for this ceiling was covered with "An excellent Turkey carpet. . . cut
has recently been identified38 (Figure I6) that shows to fire place," and the windows hung with "Three
motifs very close to those that were subsequently carried crimson silk damask drapery window curtains, laths,
out in plaster. No color was employed in this drawing;
the areas of flat plaster are indicated by grey-wash 39. Jourdain, English Decorationand Furnitureof the LaterXVIII
Century,p. 130, fig. 202.
brushwork, as they are on the drawing for the "section 40. Sutton, CountryLife o6 (December 2, 1854) pp. I958- 963.
of four sides" (Figure 13). 41. A copy of this catalogue is in the Victoria and Albert Mu-
Irrefutable evidence that this plaster ornament was seum Library, press no. 23n.
42. Quoted in Bolton, The Architecture of Robert& James Adam.
38. Stillman, DecorativeWorkof RobertAdam,p. 70. II, p. 340.

122
lines, cornices, &c." The lighting seems to have been sculpture in the dining room. Thus nine standing fig-
effected with the aid of a set of six candelabra, described ures were placed in the nine niches of the room, and
as "3-light cut-glass lustres, ornamented with drops," two classical busts stood against the piers of the window
and a pair of chandeliers, each of which was "A 6-light wall. These sculptures, together with the others in the
cut-glass lustre, ornamented with drops, brass chain house, were offered for sale in i810, but were bought
&c." in by the third marquis, and remained in place until
In the first volume of The Worksin Architecture of 1930, when they were sold at Christie's 44 (eight of the
RobertandJamesAdam,published in 1773, the authors niches have been filled with plaster casts in the room as
give their measured opinion on the decoration proper reconstituted at the Museum; the ninth is occupied by
for a dining room: "The eating rooms are considered a figure of Tyche, goddess of fortune, Figure I7, a
as the apartments of conversation, in which we are to Roman statue largely copied from a Greek original,
pass a great part of our time. This renders it desireable which the Museum bought in I96I, and which stood
to have them fitted up with elegance and splendor, but in a niche on the fireplace wall before I93045).
in a style different from that of other apartments. In I929, the year before this sale, the house and
Instead of being hung with damask, tapestry, &c. they property passed out of the possessionof the Lansdowne
are always finished with stucco, and adorned with family. In 193I, the Metropolitan acquired the dining
statues and paintings, that they may not retain the room, the elements of which remained crated until
smell of the victuals." 43The first patron of Lansdowne space became available, when the room was installed
House must have been imbued with the same senti- over a period of months, and opened at the Museum in
ments, for he seems to have decided at an early stage to November 1954. The original furniture had long been
show examples from his own collection of antique
44. Christie's, London, March 5, 1930.
I, p. i l.
43. Adam, Worksin Architecture, 45. Christie's, London, March 5, 1930, no. io6.

FIGURE i6
Pen and wash drawing for the ceiling of the Lansdowne House dining room, by Robert Adam, undated.
Sir John Soane's Museum, London (photo: R. B. Fleming & Co. Ltd)

I23
 REFERENCES

x*x FIGURE Robert and James Adam, The Works in Architectureof Robert
L 17
. p--- Statue of Tyche, Roman and James Adam (London, 1773-1822) I, preface p. 6, p. I I;
./
II, no. II, pl. vI.
.\ . .copy of a Greek original (a Arthur T. Bolton, The Architectureof Robert & James Adam
!y^ ^ !! Roman head of about the II
(I758-1794) (London, 1922) I, pp. I78-19I; II, pp. 1-17,
!/^ ififfw-t century A.D. has been added). 221-235, 312-314, 340, 342-344-
Mle Marble. H. 6 ft. 3 in. The Lindsay Boynton, "An Ince and Mayhew Correspondence,"
'a;w Furniture History, the Journal of the Furniture History Society 2
[I Metropolitan Museum of Art,
Fletcher Fund, 6i.82 (1966) pp. 25-26.
Dictionary of National Biography, ed. Leslie Stephen and Sidney
Lee, 15 (New York, London, I908-1909) p. o ll.
Joseph Farington, TheFaringtonDiary, ed. James Greig (Lon-
don, 1922-1928) I, p. 33; VII, pp. 49-51.
John Fleming, RobertAdamandhis Circlein Edinburgh& Rome
(London, I962) p. 376.
Charles Graves, Leather Armchairs, the Book of London Clubs
(New York, 1964) pp. I68-169.
John Heneage Jesse, Memoirs of GeorgeSelwyn (Boston, I902)
dispersed, but other pieces of the period were found to I, pp. 254-255, 306, 342, 361, 412.
complement the architecture. The tables in the room M. Jourdain, English Decoration and Furniture of the Later
XVIIIth Century (I760-I820). An Account of its Development
now serve to display fine examples of English silver from
and CharacteristicForms (London, I922) p. 130, fig. 202.
the Widener collection, installed in I958 (see Figure Fiske Kimball, "Lansdowne House Redivivus," Philadelphia
I2). Museum Bulletin 39 (November 1943).
In 1930, the Philadelphia Museum had bought the "Lansdowne House. A Great London House Reconstruct-
First Drawing Room, which at that time still adjoined ed," CountryLife 77 (May I I, I935) pp. 490-494.
the dining room on the northwest. This room, with its GregorNorman-Wilcox,"Two Figures from Croome Court,"
Los Angeles CountyMuseum of Art Bulletin 17, no. 3 (i965)pp.
beautiful ceiling vignettes painted by Giovanni Bat-
14-31.
tista Cipriani and Antonio Zucchi, opened at the Sir James Balfour Paul, The Scots Peerage Founded on Wood's
Philadelphia Museum in I943,46 where it completes Edition of Sir Robert Douglas's Peerage of Scotland . . . (Edin-
the series of English period rooms. burgh, 1904) I, p. 384.
In 1933, the Westminster City Council decided that George Smith, The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer'sGuide . . .
the remaining elements of Lansdowne House should be (London, I828) p. 208, pl. CXLII.
Walter Shaw Sparrow, A Book of Sporting Painters (London
displaced forty feet to the west in order to make way for and New York, 193 1) pp. 128-129.
a new street (Fitzmaurice Place). This move entailed Damie Stillman, The Decorative Work of Robert Adam (New
alterations to the existing facade as well as to the in- York, I966) p. 70.
terior apartments of the house, which were largely Denys Sutton, "Pictures from the Lansdowne Collection"
remodeled and expanded to accommodate what is now CountryLife I I6 (December 2, 1954) pp. 1958-1963.
G. F. Waagen, Worksof Art andArtistsin England(London,
the Lansdowne Club.47
I838) II, pp. 257-258.
Such were the vicissitudes that made it possible to Horace Walpole, The Letters of Horace Walpole, Fourth Earl of
recreate in America some of the perfection of interior Orford, ed. Mrs. Paget Toynbee (Oxford, 1903-1905) III,
design that was achieved for Lord Shelburne's "pal- p. 85; IV, p. 378; VII, p. 264.
ace" on Berkeley Square. Alice Winchester, editorial, Antiques 91 (February I967) pp.
200-201.

46. Kimball, PhiladelphiaMuseumBulletin39, no. I 99 (November John Woolfe and James Gandon, Vitruvius Britannicus or the
1943). British Architect (London, 1777) IV, p. 9, figs. 75-77.
47. CountryLife 77 (May I I, 1935) pp. 490-495, and Graves, Sir N. W. Wraxall, PosthumousMemoirs of His Own Time, 2nd
LeatherArmchairs,pp. 168-169. ed. (London, I836) I, p. 247.

I24
 The Pictures within Degas's Pictures

THEODORE REFF

Professorof Art History,ColumbiaUniversity

I. Three of the paintings in the Metropolitan Mu- Collector of Prints, Sulking, and the portrait of Tissot,
seum's great collection of works by Degas-The Col- all painted between i866 and i87 , in the most natu-
lector of Prints, the Portrait ofJames Tissot, and Sulk- ralistic period of Degas's art, are after all products of
ing (or The Banker)-are doubly intriguing as images the artist's mind and hand, like the more visibly
because other images are shown within them.1 The contrived works within them.3
anonymous collector (Figure 7) is surrounded by a In these respects, the picture within the picture is
variety of objects, including color prints of flowers in analogous to the literary devices of the play within the
the portfolio and on the table, a statuette of a horse in play and the narrative flashback, which likewise reveal
the cupboard, and what appear to be fragments of wall- the ambiguous relation to reality of the works in which
paper, photographs, calling cards, etc., on the bulletin they appear. In the visual arts, it is similar to two other
board. The artist Tissot (Figure I o) is shown in a studio motives that Degas frequently employed, sometimes in
amid paintings of remarkably diverse subjects and conjunction with the motive of the picture; namely,
styles: at the top, an imitation of a Japanese garden the mirror whose surface reflects in a condensed and
scene; at the sides, landscapes with figures in modern essentially pictorial form a sector of the visual field
costume; behind the easel, a dramatic, colorful sketch; around it, and the window or doorway whose frame
and in the center, a small, sober portrait. And the two intercepts in a fixed and equally pictorial manner a
figures in Sulking (Figure 24) are seen against a large sector of the larger field behind it. At times he even
engraving of a steeplechase, whose strenuous action juxtaposed these effects in the same work: in the Por-
provides a foil for their brooding inertia and also seems trait of Mme Gobillard-Morisot, by framing her head
to offer a solution to the mystery of their identity and between a doorway at one side that opens onto a
relationship. garden, and a mirrorat the other that reflects a portion
In each of these paintings, the presence of works of
art that are distinctly different in subject, scale, and
I. C. Sterling and M. Salinger, FrenchPaintings,A Catalogueof
visual texture from the larger work complicates and theCollectionof TheMetropolitanMuseumof Art (New York, 1967) III,
enriches our experience of the latter to an extraordinary pp. 6i, 62-64, and 71-73, respectively.
degree.2 For the smaller picture or object is not only an 2. On the history of this motive in European art, see A. Chastel,
"Le tableau dans le tableau," Stil und Ueberlieferung in derKunstdes
independent creation with its own content and circum- Abendlandes(Akten des 21. InternationalenKongressesfur Kunst-
scribed field, but a means of extending or dividing the geschichte;Berlin, I967) I, pp. 15-29.
larger field and of deepening the content of its imagery 3. Traditionally, this has been the function of the paintings and
prints represented in trompe-l'oeilstill lifes, a genre that, however,
through formal or iconographic analogies. In doing so,
had no appeal for Degas; see M. Fare, La naturemorteen France
it also calls attention to the artificial aspects of the (Geneva, I962) II, pls. I 03- I12, 151 -I53, and 448-453; also note
picture in which it occurs, reminding us that even The 146, below.

125

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve, and extend access to
Metropolitan Museum Journal ®
www.jstor.org
 '
i^*?.'., :i'.^^^;": . l . ^~~~~~~~~~

FIGURE I

The Interior, by Edgar Degas. Oil on canvas. Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Saul Horowitz, New York

of the room; and in The Dancing Class, by represent- Surprisingly, this fascination with the artificial and
ing some of the figures in the background as reflected the natural in the making of images, which seems so
in a cheval glass and a wall mirror, and others as characteristic of the mature Degas, is already present
glimpsed through an opening into an adjacent room.4 in his earliest experiment with the picture in the pic-
In The Interior (Figure i), painted in the home of his ture. On a page in a notebook used around I86o (Fig-
friend Paul Valpincon in I892, he achieved a tour de ure 2), he pasted two sketches of contemporary figures
force in combining all three motives very inventively, and a copy after Giorgione's Fete Champetre, and
playing on the similarities of shape between the framed then drew at the bottom a couple who appear to look
pictures, the mirror reflections, and the doorway vista, at the Giorgione, thus converting the spatially neutral
while preserving an effect of informality through the page into an illusion of a wall in the Louvre's Grande
choice of viewpoint.5 Galerie.6

4. Lemoisne, nos. 213 and 297; Sterling and Salinger, French chateau at Menil-Hubert, and was probably painted during a
Paintings,pp. 65-66 and 69-71. Mirrors are also employed, some- visit in August I892 (see Degas, Lettres,pp. 192-194). I am indebt-
times very ingeniously, in Lemoisne, nos. 298, 348, 397, 5i6, 709, ed for this information to M. Paul Brame, who visited Menil-
768, and 1227; window views also occur in nos. 48, I I6, 174, 303, Hubert after the war and recognized the room.
324, 447, and 700.
5. Lemoisne, no. 312; now in the collection of Mr. and Mrs. 6. B. N., Carnet i, fol. 35; the whole notebook was used in
Saul Horowitz, New York. Incorrectly identified and dated by I859-I864, and this portion in I859-I860; see Reff, "Degas's
Lemoisne, it in fact represents Degas's bedroom in the Valpincons' Notebooks," p. 612.

126
 When its functions are conceived in the general whose carefully depicted furnishings a picture seems
terms just discussed, the motive of the picture obviously naturally to belong. It may even allude to the profes-
can occur in any image showing a conventional type of sion of the person portrayed, like the lithograph behind
interior; hence in most of those painted by Degas, who the musician Pilet (Figure 30), or to his social status or
was more deeply interested than any artist of his time aspirations, like the painting behind Therese Morbilli
in recording the appearance of the rehearsal rooms, (Figure I9), or finally to his relation to the artist him-
laundries, offices, cafes, and salons in which his con- self, like the drawing behind Degas's aunt in The Bel-
temporaries worked and lived.7 Thus, when the novelist lelli Family (Figure 3).
and critic Duranty declared in La nouvelle peinture: But if these works reflect the naturalism of his own
"Nous ne separerons plus le personnage du fond d'ap- age, they are also inspired by that of the seventeenth
partement. . . . autour de lui et derriere lui sont des century, especially in Holland, where Hals, Rem-
meubles, des cheminees, des tentures de murailles, une brandt, and Vermeer had often depicted paintings,
paroi qui exprime sa fortune, sa classe, son metier," he mirrors, even maps, in the backgrounds of their por-
illustrated this programme of pictorial naturalism with traits and genre scenes in order to heighten their
identifiable paintings by Degas.8 It is not surprising, verisimilitude and deepen their visual "resonance."9
then, that several of the ones we shall discuss are, like Indeed, Degas himself later observed that "a nos
Sulking, images of an office or a drawing room, among debuts, Fantin, Whistler et moi"-and the other two
also experimented frequently with the picture in the
picture-"nous etions sur la meme voie, la route de
FIGURE 2 Hollande."10
Page of studies, by Degas. Pencil drawings, Car- In most cases, however, the milieu in the paintings
net i, fol. 35. Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris we shall discuss is not simply a contemporary interior,
but that of an individual who is professionally con-
cerned with the creation or appreciation of art. Like the
portrait of Tissot, those of Henri Rouart (Figure 35)
and a hitherto unidentified artist (Figure 33) show
_",
. ... Degas's colleagues in their studios, surrounded by what
(I ".
.", ,
appear to be their own works. And like the portrait of
"'
a print collector, those of Helene Rouart (Figure 4I)
'
'-I
.
I*' r,-;,,
,~-. .1 .
, I
and the art critic Diego Martelli (Figure 36) show his
* .
- .
" friends in their apartments, with the paintings and
.,'' objects in their collections. In a public version of the
_
.
I

I7$- I

7. The most thorough discussion of this interest remains that in

I_A
J. K. Huysmans, "Le Salon de i879," L'art modeme(Paris, I883)
pp. I I-1 23. On the parallel tendency in Naturalist literature, see
notes 55a and 150, below.
. 8. E. Duranty, La nouvellepeinture,ed. M. Guerin (Paris, I946
.
[first ed. I876]) p. 45. Several of the paintings he alludes to are
identified in Lemoisne, I, p. 238, note I 7.
9. Chastel, "Le tableau dans le tableau," pp. 21-24. On Ver-
I -'-, meer's use of the motive, see also L. Gowing, Vermeer(New York,
,
, .f 4.
. II** Jl
'A
I/ I953) pp. 48-53. Significantly, this was already observed by the
w , s
...
A-I) Naturalists who rediscovered Vermeer in the i 86os; see W. Burger
f ,- .
! - xI
J, [T. Thore], "Van der Meer de Delft," Gazettedes Beaux-Arts2I
.1I 1\

(i866) pp. 460-461.

" )' 0o. Reported by Paul Poujaud in a letter to Marcel Guerin, in
)
Degas, Lettres,p. 256. Typical examples in which pictures appear
are Fantin-Latour's Two Sisters and Whistler's At the Piano, both
dated I859, illustrated in Rewald, Impressionism, pp. 32-33.

127
 -Y-1.
~~~~~~it.

FIGURE 3
The Bellelli Family, by Degas. Oil on canvas. Musee du Louvre (photo: Archives Photographiques)

latter type, Mary Cassatt is shown with a companion, lery; for in the self-portraits and "painted galleries"
contemplating an Etruscan sarcophagus in the Louvre that have been popular since the seventeenth century,
(Figure 39) or the pictures in the Grande Galerie (Fig- the works of art surrounding the artist or collector
ure 37).11 In these images, we recognize the studios, serve also to identify his profession, characterize his
collections, and museums which constituted Degas's taste, or symbolize the relation of art and nature.12As a
own world, where he was indeed known not only as an
artist, but as a distinguished collector and indefatigable i i. See also the other versions of the latter (Lemoisne, no. 583;

museum visitor. As pictures of a world in which pictures Delteil, no. 29) and the slightly earlier Visit to the Museum (Le-
moisne, nos. 464 and 465). On their place in the views of Louvre
themselves are the most conspicuous objects, they are
galleries which were popular at the time, see J. J. Marquet de
ideal expressions of that cult of art and the artificial Vasselot, "R6pertoire des vues des salles du Mus6e du Louvre,"
which was so characteristic of him. Archivesde l'ArtFranfais20 (1946) pp. 266-279.
I2. Chastel, "Le tableau dans le tableau," pp. I8-I9 and 25.
But like his images of more conventional interiors,
On the "painted galleries" in particular, see T. von Frimmel,
they also belong to an historical tradition, that of GemalteGalerien,his Kleine Galeriestudien(Bamberg, I893) III,
representing the artist's studio and the collector's gal- Part 3.

I28
student, Degas had copied one example of this type, ing to Degas's own observations, admitted: "La vie
Bronzino's Portrait of a Sculptor, and had made a interieure de la famille de Florence est un sujet de
variation on another, more important one, Velazquez's tristesse pour nous. Comme je le prevoyais, il y a beau-
Maids of Honor, in which the pictures of mythological coup de la faute de l'un et un peu de notre soeur aussi.
subjects in the background, the mirror reflecting the Incompatabilite de caractere et d'education et par
king and queen, and the doorway in which a figure is suite un manque d'amitie et d'indulgence qui grossit
silhouetted, all are employed both as spatial and as comme une loupe les defauts naturels des individus."16
symbolic motives.13 Expressive of this estrangement, and perhaps also of
the couple's respective roles, are the dissimilar objects
shown behind them in Degas's portrait-the ambigu-
I I. The ingenious use of these devices in workssuch ous, receding images in the mirror and the clear,
as The Maids of Honor, an image of the artist's studio advancing shape of the drawing.
that is also a portrait of the royal family, is undoubtedly When its subject and author are recognized, the
what inspired Degas to employ them in the impressive drawing (Figure 4) acquires additional significance. It
group portrait in which his early studies culminated, is a study, evidently now lost, that Degas himself had
The Bellelli Family (Figure 3) of about I86o.14Here, made in Naples around 1857 for the etched and paint-
too, the picture, the mirror, and the doorway serve ed portraits of his father, which show him wearing the
both to extend the interior space, which is much more same hat and sitting in the same position (Figure 5).17
shallow than in the Velazquez, and to deepen its As an image of the Baroness Bellelli's brother, it is ap-
expressivesignificance by means of analogies. Thus, the propriately placed near her own head, and in this
somber, upright figure of Degas's aunt is placed against position it discreetly asserts the existence of the de Gas
a wall whose expanse is broken only by the narrow branch of this family at a moment when they were
doorway and the sharply defined picture frame, while separated from their relatives in Naples and Paris,
the lighter, more recessive figure of his uncle is seen owing to the political exile of the baron. There was
against a mantelpiece surmounted by small objects and perhaps a deeper bond between Degas's father and
a mirror reflecting the blurred and luminous forms of aunt, since the formerhad lost his wife when the painter
a window and a chandelier. was still a child, and the latter was estranged from her
Although this contrast corresponds to linear and husband, with the result that both devoted themselves
coloristic tendencies which were already present in to their children. As she wrote to Degas shortly after
Degas's art at the time,15 it undoubtedly also expresses he returned to Paris: "Tu vas etre bien heureux, de te
his insight into tensions within the Bellelli family. He retrouver en famille, au lieu d'etre en face d'un visage
had in fact been living with them in Florence for several triste tel que le mien et une mine desagreable telle que
months before he undertook this ambitious portrait, celle de mon mari.... Dieu me donnera peut etre la
and must have perceived the great distance between force de trainer mes jours, jusqu'a ce que mes enfants
husband and wife, a distance which he has in effect auront besoin de moi."18
made visible in his composition. For shortly after he Thus the portrait of Degas's father plays essentially
returned to Paris, his uncle Achille, apparently reply- the same role in The Bellelli Family as the effigies of

LasHilanderas
13. C. de Tolnay,"Vel/azquez' andLasMenifias," I6. Letter from Achille de Gas to Degas, May I4, I859, col-
GazettedesBeaux-Arts35 (I949) pp. 32-38. For Degas's variation, lection the late Jean Nepveu-Degas, Paris. I am grateful to him
paintedabout 1857,see Reff, "Degas'sCopies,"p. 252 and fig. 4. for allowing me to consult his unpublished family papers.
byDegas,p. 6.
For his copy afterBronzino,see Boggs,Portraits 17. Lemoisne, no. 33; the etching is Delteil, no. 2. On their
14. Lemoisne, no. 79; dated there 186o-1862. But more proba- relation to the drawing, also see M. Guerin, "Remarques sur des
bly painted about I859-I860; see Boggs, Portraitsby Degas, pp. portraits de famille peints par Degas," Gazettedes Beaux-Arts 17
I -15; alsoher earlierstudy,"EdgarDegasand the Bellellis,"Art (1928) pp. 378-379. According to R. Raimondi, Degas e la sua
Bulletin37 (1955) pp. 127-136. famiglia in Napoli (Naples, 1958) pp. 261-262, the drawing original-
15. The outstandingexamplesareThe BellelliFamilyitselfand ly represented the Baron Bellelli and was repainted about 1900,
The Daughterof Jephthah (Lemoisne,no. 94). On the colorism but this is extremely unlikely.
of the latter, see G. Fries, "Degaset les maitres,"ArtdeFrance4 18. Letter from Laura Bellelli to Degas, April 5, 1859, collection
(1964) pp. 353-356. the late Jean Nepveu-Degas, Paris.

129
 FIGURE 4
Detail from The Bellelli Family (photo: Agraci) FIGURE 5
Portrait of Auguste de Gas, by Degas. Oil on can-
vas. Collection of M. CharlesDurand-Ruel, Paris

ancestors which appear in European portraits since bust, its delicate red chalk technique, even its tradition-
the Renaissance, especially in Netherlandish group al blue mat and gold frame, give it the appearance of a
portraits such as the Van Berchem Family by Frans Renaissance portrait drawing, especially one by the
Floris, where the prominently displayed image of the Clouets or their school, which it resembles also in its
deceased member unites him with the living ones shown use of costume.20Before going to Italy in I856, Degas
eating, conversing, and playing music. 19 had copied a red chalk drawing of this type, which was
As one of Degas's works, the background picture in formerly considered a self-portraitby Francois Clouet;
The Bellelli Family is no less significant, since it subtly and on his return, he reproduced a portrait of Elizabeth
identifies him with his aunt and affirmshis presence, if of Austria attributed to the same artist.21
only as an artist-observer, in this household whose
members he has portrayed. It was probably his gift to Malerei(Leiden, 1936)
I 9. M. Friedlander, Die Altniederlandische
them while living there, although its later history is XIII, p. 69 and pl. xxxvii. I owe the knowledge of this example to
unknown. As an accomplished portrait drawing, how- Prof. Leo Steinberg.
20. For drawings by them in the Louvre, see E. Moreau-
ever, it also testifies to Degas's artistic progress, which
Nelaton, Les Clouetet leursemules(Paris, I924) II, figs. 298-313.
was at the time most evident in just this type of dignified 2 I. See Reff, "Degas's Copies," pp. 256 and 258. The former is
family portrait, and which he has characteristically after Moreau-Nelaton, Les Clouet, II, fig. 308, the latter after
identified with skillful draughtsmanship. At the same Louvre 130 (no longer attributed to Clouet). Degas refers to this
painting-as "Janet, la Femme de Charles IX"-in planning his
time, it hints at one of the sources of this early por- own portrait of a woman about 186o; see the notebook passage
traiture; for its three-quarter view of the head and cited below, note 40.

130
 This ambition to rival the perfection of Renaissance Degas himself in his old age and to such dedicated
art is undoubtedly what led Degas to lavish so much amateursamong his friendsas Paul Lafond and Christian
attention on the background details of The Bellelli Cherfils, of whom he painted a sympathetic double
Family, including the carefully rendered frame on his portrait around I88I that shows them seated together,
own drawing. Among the many preparatory studies, gazing intently at a small canvas.25Here, as in the
there is even one (Figure 6) in which he envisaged the roughly contemporary picture of an unidentified col-
painting itself as it would appear in a frame, and drew lector bending over a print to examine it, Degas was
in detail the type of Louis XVI moulding that he would evidently inspired by the example of Daumier, whose
use.*2Already present here is that characteristic con- paintings of amateursscrutinizing the works on display
ception of the work of art as an artifice which would in print sellers' stalls or admiring the objects in each
lead him to reproduce with equal care the Renaissance
frame in the background of his portrait of Tissot (Fig- 25. Lemoisne, no. 647; dated there about i88i; now in the
ure I I) and to copy part of a Baroque frame in the Cleveland Museum of Art. On Degas's activities as a collector, see
Louvre in preparation for his portrait of Mary Cassatt Lemoisne, I, pp. 173-182.

(Figure 38).

I I I. In The Collector of Prints (Figure 7), painted

about six years later than The Bellelli Family, Degas
virtually reversed the roles of the figure and the back-
ground picture, giving the latter a prominence and
interest which almost outweigh those of the former.23
Appropriately, the subject, whose identity remains un-
known, must be considered as a type rather than an
individual, the type of old-fashioned collector who
flourished during the Second Empire, and whom t' _

Degas had met as a young man in the company of his

... i
father. Recalling these visits many years afterward, he
dwelled on precisely that dedication to art and indif- ? ~

ference to self which seem to characterize the anony-

mous figure in his painting: "Une chambre oiu les
toiles s'entaissaient pele-mele ... [Marcille] avait un
paletot a pelerine et un chapeau usage. Les gens de ce
temps-la avaient tous des chapeaux usages. Lacaze,
ah! Lacaze avait aussi, lui, un chapeau usage."24
Indeed, the description would apply equally well to
40
1

22. B. N., Carnet i6, fol. I0; used in I859-1860, see Reff, 11

"Degas's Notebooks," p. 6I2. The frame on the drawing is quite * I

similar to the nineteenth-century one shown in Raimondi, Degas 0
t.

e la suafamiglia, pl. 20, but is not identical with it as is stated there. v

On Degas's later concern with the framing of his pictures, see L. t

- .

W. Havemeyer, Sixteento Sixty, Memoirsof a Collector(New York,

I96i) p. 250.
t 44- fr-. -

23. Lemoisne, no. 138; signed and dated i866. For the recent
literature, see note i, above.
24. E. Moreau-Nelaton, "Deux heures avec Degas," L'Amour FIGURE 6
de l'Art 12 (193I) pp. 267-270. This type of collector is vividly
described in E. de Goncourt, La maisond'un artiste (Paris, 1931 Page of studies, by Degas. Pencil drawings, Car-
[first ed. I88 ]) I, pp. 33-36. net I6, fol. i o. Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris

I3I
 other's apartments likewise focus on the intensity of
their concentration, the consuming character of their
passion.26In contrast to these, the Museum's Collector
of Prints shows an introspective and disenchanted man,
almost detached from the works of art that he idly
handles or appears to place behind him in turning his
back. As a result, the latter, in their fascinating diversi-
ty of styles, seem more expressive of his real interests
than he himself.
The objects surrounding him are indeed remarkably
varied, and include examples of popular as well as
sophisticated art, from the Far East as well as Europe;
and significantly, they are seen as examples of their
types, rather than as unique works. Within the col-
lector's portfolio, and placed on the table behind
him, are some of the small color lithographs of roses for
which Pierre Redoute, the so-called "Raphael des
fleurs," had become famous earlier in the century.27In
the cupboard is a ceramic statuette of a horse, evidently
one of those produced in China during the T'ang
Dynasty; the positions of the legs on the small base, the
bowed head, and the flaring nostrils are characteristic
of this type, which Degas has westernized in rendering
the anatomy and hair realistically.28Oriental and oc-
FIGURE 7 cidental styles are alsojuxtaposed in the objects placed
The Collector of Prints, by Degas. Oil on canvas. on the bulletin board and inserted into its frame (Fig-
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, bequest of ure 8), for the smaller ones are such typically European
Mrs. H. 0. Havemeyer, the H. 0. Havemeyer products as envelopes, calling cards, notices, and
Collection, 29.100.44 photographs, placed against pieces of wallpaper, while
the larger, more vividly colored ones are fragments of
Japanese embroidered silk.29 A daring composition,
apparently without order yet ultimately balanced, the
FIGURE 8 bulletin board symbolizes both the collector's fascina-
Detail from The Collector of Prints
26. E. Fuchs, Der Maler Daumier (Munich, 1927) pls. 98-I09
and 244-249; some of these figured in the great Daumier exhibition
of 1878. Degas's painting The Collector is Lemoisne, no. 648; dat-
ed there about I88 i.
27. H. Beraldi, Les graveursdu xIXe siecle (Paris, I89 ) XI, pp.
177-178; see especially the two publications, Les roses(I835) and
Choixde soixanteroses( 836).
28. For similar examples, see E. Fuchs, Tang-Plastik (Munich,
n.d. [1924] pls. 46 and 48; and especially Shensi Province,
SelectedT'ang DynastyFigurines(Peking, I958; in Chinese) pl. I6o.
I am indebted to my colleague Prof. Jane Gaston Mahler for this
information.
29. See Victoria and Albert Museum, Guide to the Japanese
Textiles, Part I, TextileFabrics (London, I919) pp. 20-21 and the
examples reproduced on pl. x, all of which date from the late
eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

132
tion with even such small, almost worthless scraps of
paper and fabric, and the artist's recognition of aes-
thetic qualities in their very profusion of overlapping
shapes, diagonal stripes, and surprising spots of color.
By far the most important elements in this design are
the fragments of Japanese embroidery, which were
either cut from larger fabrics or manufactured as such,
to be sewn into covers for pocketbooks. Popular among
French collectors from the 186os on, they were admired
for their skillful workmanship and their rare color
harmonies, what Edmond de Goncourt, a pioneer
among these connoisseurs, described as "toutes cou- A
leurs rompues et charmeresses pour l'oeil d'un colo-
riste."30 Degas and the Goncourts were, of course, not
alone at the time in appreciating these novel qualities. FIGURE 9

Among the other writers, artists, and craftsmen in Pocketbook covers, Japanese, xvII-xix century.
Paris who also began to collect Japanese art in these Embroidered silk. Victoria and Albert Museum
years were Degas's friends Manet, Whistler, Tissot, (photo: Carlton Studios)
Fantin-Latour, Bracquemond, and Alfred Stevens.31
However, most of them were attracted primarily to its that Degas has shown (Figure 9).33 It represents the
unusual forms and exotic appearance, hence painted scattered cards used in a popular poem game, some of
interiors filled with Japanese screens, ceramics, cos- which bear poems and others the portraits of well-
tumes, and figures with vaguely oriental features, of known poets, the object being to match each poem
which Whistler's Golden Screen (I864) and Tissot's card with the corresponding portrait card; and the
Young Woman Holding Japanese Objects (I 869) are resultant effects of condensation, random distribution,
good examples.32 and cutting at the edges were obviously what appealed
Degas was one of the few who attempted instead to to him.
assimilate the distinctive stylistic features of Japanese
art. In contrast to the color woodcuts at the right side
of The Golden Screen, which are cleverly arranged but I V. An example of Japanese art, or rather an
within a traditional perspective space, the embroidered imitation of one, also appears in the background of
silks in the background of The Collector of Prints form Degas's Portrait of James Tissot (Figure IO), painted
a pattern of flat, piquantly silhouetted and colored in the same years as The Collector of Prints;34 and this
shapes. Moreover, the pattern itself closely resembles time in a composition which, although severely clas-
one of those employed in Japanese fabrics of the type sical in its pattern of overlapping and interlocking

30. Goncourt, La maisond'unartiste,I, pp. 182-I83. On his own especially N. G. Sandblad, Manet, ThreeStudiesin ArtisticConception
extensivecollection of Japanese fabrics, especiallythe so-called (Lund, I954) pp. 71-81.
"fukusas,"small embroideredsquaressimilarto those in Degas's 33. See Victoria and Albert Museum, Guide to the Japanese
painting, see I, pp. I 1-1 7. Textiles,p. 21 and pl. x, no. 98. Degas's interest in exotic patterns
at this time is also shown by a list of merchants specializing in
31. E. Chesneau, "Le Japon a Paris," Gazettedes Beaux-ArtsI8 "Indiennes de Rouen," "Indiennes de Suisse," "Imitations de
(1878) p. 387; L. Benedite, "Whistler-III," Gazettedes Beaux- Chine," etc., in Guerin Carnet 3, fols. 30-30 verso. This notebook
Arts 34 (1905) pp. 143-144. If the collector in Degas's portrait
was used in I865-I870; see Reff, "Degas's Notebooks," p. 613.
specialized in Japanese art, he is not one of those mentioned in
34. Lemoisne, no. 175; dated there i868. In Boggs, Portraitsby
these sources.
Degas, p. o6, it is dated i866, but the study in Guerin Carnet 3,
32. The former is reproduced in D. Sutton, James McNeill fol. 6 verso that is cited as evidence can in fact be dated only to
Whistler(London, I966) pl. 30; the latter in Apollo 79 (January i865-1870; see note 33, above. For the recent literature, see note
I964), p. xxv. On the vogue of Japanese art in the i86os, see i, above.

I33
 t
* *-"I
. I

s.

r+??

T.

4 311
es WF :5
-:

0:

I
:

*,*1

4..
*;f -
-*
I .

1 -4
'1.; . ..

.-...

''
rrt.*

-7.- :
p;
:*,.:

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I34
 FIGURE 10
Portrait ofJames Tissot, by Degas. Oil on canvas.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund,
39. 16I

rectangles, shows an even greater taste for the cutting

of forms at its edges. All but one of the six pictures in
the background are intercepted by other elements,
three of them by the frame. As a result, they seem more
animated than Tissot himself, particularly since he as-
sumes an attitude of passivity, a kind of elegant non-
chalance. Neither actively at work in his own studio nor
clearly a visitor to another artist's-and the slender
walking stick that could also be a mahlstick held idly
in his hand, the hat and coat placed casually on the
table behind him, only heighten this ambiguity-he
turns sideways on the chair and leans on the table,
confronting us with an expression that is at once world-
ly and world-weary.35
That this image of the artist as a dandy was an ap-
propriate one for Tissot, who was already becoming
the fashionable painter who would later specialize in
scenes of Victorian high life, seems obvious enough. FIGURE II
But that Degas also expressed in it his own conception Detail from the Portrait of James Tissot
of the artist becomes equally clear when it is compared
with his self-portraits of these years, in which he ap-
pears as a somewhat haughty gentleman, defensive and
FIGURE 12
slightly ironic.36 Hence what is most characteristic in
Portraitof Frederickthe Wise, workshopof Lucas
his portrait of Tissot, what distinguishes it from the
more prosaic pictures of the artist in his studio painted
Cranach. Oil on panel. Musee du Louvre (photo:
Archives Photographiques)
by the young Impressionists at this time, derives as
much from Degas himself as from his subject. And this
identification manifests itself not only in the ambi-
guities already mentioned, but in the paintings sur-
rounding him, since most of them could have been
made by Degas as well as by Tissot at this moment in
their careers.
Significantly, none of the five canvases whose faces

35. There is obviously an echo here of the Romantic tradition

of the melancholy artist; see W. Hoffman, The Earthly Paradise,
Eng. trans. (New York, I96I) pp. 227-231 and pls. 56-6I. In a
self-portrait of this period, Tissot appears in a similarly pensive
mood; illustrated in Art Quarterly24 (I96I) p. 302.
36. See especially Lemoisne, nos. 105 and I I6, the latter show-
ing another colleague, De Valernes, in a posture almost identical
with Tissot's. In a portrait etching of about i865, Tissot in turn
shows Degas as a melancholy type; illustrated in Lemoisne, I,
opposite p. 62.

I35
 ,~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~ . ~ e. . t
.."r" . .<..4 ^
?-^-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~'..
..' . '".. .

' * ""
.* !*.-* - -
'i.-,.
- ,
j-
. \ ,- ..... ..~_-
'
ae
-*
^ ~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.,,.
'^~ ,X~~~~~*<
~'
* .- _ * '"" > ; ,*- .1. . ! , , li _

FIGURE 13
Detail from the Portrait of James Tissot

FIGURE 14
Evening under the Murmuring Pines, by Chobunsai Yeishi. Color woodcut. British Museum

we see is a known work by either artist, and only one the "neo-Germanic" art of Henrik Leys, a popular
can be identified at all. This is the small, handsomely Belgian painter with whom he was often compared at
framed picture hanging near Tissot's head (Figure I I), the time.38 This would account not only for the presence
which is a free copy after a portrait of Frederick the of a copy after Cranach in Tissot's studio, but for its
Wise attributed to Cranach in the Louvre (Figure
37. F. Villot, Notice des tableaux... du MuseeImperialdu Louvre
I2) ;37 and such a copy could easily have existed in (Paris, I855) II, no. 99. It is one of several workshop replicas of an
either artist's studio. More obviously perhaps in Tis- earlier portrait; see M. Friedlander and J. Rosenberg, Die Gemalde
vonLucasCranach(Berlin, 1932) p. 58, no. I 51.
sot's, since the meticulously rendered genre scenes in
38. On Tissot and Leys, see C. de Sault, Essais de critiqued'art
which he had specialized in the early 186os were clearly (Paris, I864) pp. 73-74; on Leys and German art, E. Chesneau,
dependent on German Renaissance art, or rather on Les nationsrivalesdansl'art (Paris, i868) pp. 84-93.

136
evident analogies with the portrait of himself. Although whose figural style it particularly recalls and who was
they are subtly contrasted in coloring, both heads are among the first of the Ukiyo-e school to become known
turned toward the right, surmounted by a dark mass, in France.41
and marked by a drooping moustache, as if to suggest That Tissot was one of the earliest collectors of this
the stylistic affinitiesof the two artistsby a physiognom- art we have already seen; that he was also one of the
ic one. most enthusiastic we learn from a letter written by
However, the manner in which the copyist has Rossetti in 1864: "I went to the Japanese shop [of Mme
eliminated the Gothic features of his model and has de Soye], but found that all the costumes were being
made its forms more compact and legible suggests that snapped up by a French artist, Tissot, who it seems is
he was a less pedantic artist than Tissot-in fact, was doing three Japanese pictures, which the mistress of
one with the classical taste of Degas. For it is also the shop described to me as the three wonders of the
conceivable that this copy once hung in his own studio: world."42 One of these was presumably In a Foreign
he, too, admired German Renaissance art, had drawn Land, an episode in Tissot's series on the Prodigal Son
repeatedly after pictures by Holbein and Diirer, and that shows him being entertained by Japanese dancers;
had collected photographs of others by Cranach and and if the picture in Degas's portrait, which represents
Diurer.39 In fact, in a notebook of the early i86os he a similar subject, does not reproduce the latter, it may
referred to-this very portrait of Frederick the Wise as a nevertheless allude to it.43 However, like the embroi-
model of firm drawing and subtle coloring for a portrait dered silks in The Collector of Prints, it also reflects
of a woman that he was planning.40 Degas's own interest in Japanese art, an interest only
Like the copy after Cranach, the horizontal picture slightly less keen than that of Tissot, according to
ofJapanese women in a garden (Figure 13), which ex- Chesneau and other contemporaries.44And since it
tends across the top of Degas's composition, is not the does not represent an actual work, whether Japanese
historical work it appears to be, but rather a modern or pseudo-Japanese, but is improvised in the manner
copy or imitation. For if its format is that of a five-sheet of both, it may well be Degas's unique attempt to
Japanese woodcut or a scroll of the makimonotype, and produce such a work-not altogether seriously, but in
if its figures wear Japanese costumes and are seen the guise of one that Tissot himself had painted, and in
against a background partly closed by partitions and this friendly competition clearly capturing a more
latticed windows in the Japanese manner, the style in authentically Japanese look.
which it is painted is thoroughly Western. The model- If the framed and relatively complete "Cranach"
ing and cast shadows of the figures, their recession into and "Japanese" pictures may never have existed, the
depth, and the atmospheric landscape all point to that three seen in an unframed, fragmentarystate were even
conclusion. Behind this "Japanese" picture is un- more obviously invented to fill the peripheral spaces
doubtedly a polyptych color woodcut by one of the they occupy. Pictorially, they represent styles which
followers of Utamaro, such as Evening Under the are distinctly different from thosejust discussed yet are
Murmuring Pines by Yeishi (Figure I4), an artist equally indicative of interestsshared by Degas and Tis-

39. The photographs are listed in B. N., Carnet 2 1, fol. 40; used DanteGabriel Rossetti,HisFamilyLetters(London,I895) II, p. I80.
in I868-I872, see Reff, "Degas's Notebooks," pp. 613-614. For See also WilliamRossetti'smemoir,in I, p. 263.
the copies, see Reff, "Degas's Copies," pp. 255 and 257-258. 43. Formerlyin the Luxembourgand now in the Nantes Mu-
seum, this serieswas paintedin the early I86os; see L. Benedite,
40. B. N., Carnet i, fol. I94; used in I859-I864, see note 6,
Catalogue sommaire.. . duMuseeNationalduLuxembourg (Paris,I914)
above. nos. 487-490, and Benedite, "Whistler-III," pp. I43-144.
41. See L. Binyon, A Catalogueof JapaneseandChineseWoodcuts...
Largelyunpublished,it is knownthroughTissot'setchedcopiesof
in the British Museum(London, I916) p. i65, no. 32; also p. I64, 1881, illustratedin C. Yriarte,Eaux-fortes, noires... deJ. J.
manieres
no. 30 for a similar example. I am indebted to Mr. Basil Gray and Tissot (Paris, I886) nos. 58-6i.
Mr. Jack Hillier for this suggestion, which they have made 44. See note 31, above. At his death, Degas owned over I00
independently. prints,drawings,and albumsby Japanesemasters;see Catalogue
desestampes
. . . collection
EdgarDegas,H6tel Drouot,Paris,Novem-
42. Letter from Rossetti to his mother, November 12, I864, in ber 5, 19 I8, nos. 324-33 1.

I37
 sot. Thus, the picture placed on an easel (Figure i5)
shows figures in contemporary dress seated outdoors in
the manner of early Impressionist picnic scenes. One
of these, a Dejeuner sur l'Herbe painted by Tissot him-
self about I865 (Figure I6), when he had abandoned
his earlier "neo-Germanic" style and was assimilating
the more advanced naturalistic style of Monet and his
colleagues, may well be the kind of picture that Degas
had in mind.45 But if it seems broadly painted in
;4t a relation to Tissot's earlier work, it lacks the vivid out-
door light and boldly simplified forms found in the
picnic scene invented by Degas, whereas these are
precisely the qualities that characterize some of his
own pictures of these years, for example, the brilliant
sketch of Three Women Seated Outdoors.46
The same is true of the painting placed on the table
behind Tissot (Figure I7), which serves as a pendant
to the other one and with it encloses the examples of
historic and exotic art shown between them. For it, too,

45. J. Laver, "VulgarSociety,"theRomanticCareerof James Tissot

(London, I936) pl. iI; now in the collection of Mr. A. R. MacWil-
liam, London. It is evidently inspired by the hunting scenes of
Courbet and the picnic scenes of Monet.
46. Not in Lemoisne; illustrated in Choixd'une collectionprivde,
FIGURE 15 Klipstein and Kornfeld, Bern, October 22-November 30, 1960,
Detail from the Portrait ofJames Tissot no. 9; dated there about I865. See also the Children and Poneys
in a Park, Lemoisne, no. I7I; dated there about I867.

FIGURE i6
Dejeuner sur l'Herbe, by James Tissot. Oil on canvas. Collection of Mr. A. R. MacWilliam, London

138
 against the wall behind the easel (Figure I5), which
apparently represents the Finding of Moses, its upper
half showing the Pharaoh's daughter and a servant
descending toward the Nile, its lower half another
servant lifting the infant from his basket.48 As an il-
lustration of a Biblical episode, dramatic in content
and painted in resonant red and green tones, it pro-
vides a striking contrast to the modern picnic scene
adjacent to it. Yet no picture of this subject by Degas
or Tissot is known; and no Renaissance picture of it-
assuming that what we see is a copy-would arrange
the figures so eccentrically on the surface, which has
clearly been improvised within the irregular space
available. Behind the improvisation, however, there is
an historical type, the depiction of the Finding of
Moses in late Renaissance and Baroque art, particular-
FIGURE
". 'W
3.. 1 ly that of the Venetians and their followers. The version
17 * H^'",
' ' in the Louvre by Charles de la Fosse (Figure I8), for
Detail from the . K
Portrait of James example, shows the figures in similarly twisted pos-
Tissot tures, disposed vertically on an inclined ground plane,
and rendered in similarly warm tones.49

FIGURE i8
The Finding of Moses, by Charles de la Fosse.
Oil on canvas. Musee du Louvre (photo: Ar-
represents figures in contemporary costume-women chives Photographiques)
in capes and bonnets seated beneath tall trees, girls in
striped dressesrunning among them-and in a manner
reminiscent of such recent pictures as Manet's Concert
in the Tuileries Gardens.47And it, too, is more vividly
colored and more boldly executed than any extant
work by Tissot, although there is nothing really compa-
rable iconographically among the known works of
Degas.
Even more puzzling is the large painting leaning

47. Illustrated in Rewald, Impressionism,p. 77. It is also remi-

niscent of Monet's Dejeuner sur l'Herbe of I866, illustrated in
ibid., p. 119.
48. Hence the suggestion in Laver, "VulgarSociety,"p. 13, that
it "may form part of Tissot's Faust and Marguerite series," is
unfounded. In view of Degas's competition with Manet, it is worth
noting that he, too, had depicted the Finding of Moses; see R. E.
Krauss, "Manet's Nymph Surprised," BurlingtonMagazine I09
(I967) pp. 622-623 and fig. 20.
49. Villot, Noticedestableaux... du MuseeImpirialdu Louvre,III,
no. 202. On the influence of Veronese's version on French art
at the time of De la Fosse, see K. T. Parker and J. Mathey, Antoine
Watteau,cataloguecompletdesonoeuvredessine(Paris, 1957) I, nos. 345
and 352, and II, no. 859.

I39
 Moreover, in the mid-I86os Venetian art was of shared with Tissot, but which were more fundamental-
particular interest to Degas, who painted several copies ly his own.
of works attributed to Giorgione, Tintoretto, and Vero- Indeed, only an artist of Degas's complexity could
nese, including a Finding of Moses by the latter which have invented five pictures so remarkably varied in
was clearly the prototype of de la Fosse's. 5 A few years subject and style, or have juxtaposed them so deliber-
earlier, Tissot, too, had studied and copied Venetian ately. For taken together they constitute a kind of sum-
art; but characteristically, he preferred the more sober mation, a statement of his artistic affinities in what we
art of the quattrocento, and wrote to Degas from now recognize was a critical period of transition for
Venice: "L'Assomption du Titien m'a laisse froid- himself and other advanced artists, among whom to
le Tintoret de Saint-Marc piquant une tete m'a bien some extent was Tissot. In effect, Degas asserts his be-
etonne-mais Andrea Mantegna, Bellini m'ont ravi."51 lief in the relevance for modern art of several distinctly
Like the other pictures in Degas's portrait, then, the opposed tendencies: the artificiality ofJapanese prints
"Venetian" one reflects artistic interests which he and the realism of European paintings, the immediacy
of contemporary genre scenes and the formality of
older portraits and narratives, the sober, linear style
FIGURE 19
of the Renaissance, and the dramatic, colorful style of
Portrait of Therese Morbilli, by Degas. Pastel.
the Baroque. And in doing so, he expresses in art-
Collection of Mme David-Weill, Paris (photo:
historical terms that ideal of sophistication and self-
Laniepce)
awareness which he has also expressed in personal
terms in his image of the artist as a dandy.

V. The richly framed portrait and the ambiguous-

ly reflecting mirror, which we have already encoun-
tered in The Bellelli Family, occur again in the back-
ground of Degas's portrait of his sister Therese Morbilli
(Figure I9), drawn in pastel around I869. 52 Here, how-
ever, the two motives are juxtaposed in depth rather
than on the picture surface, and they serve to character-
ize the personality and social status of an individual
rather than the opposed temperaments of a married
couple. For there is a correspondence betwveen the por-
trait, the other pictures in the room, and the ornate
candelabra reflected in the mirror, just as there is be-
tween these Rococo objects, at once expensive and
vaguely aristocratic in tone, and the elegant, rather
aloof young woman who stands before them, apparent-
ly at home in this richly furnished place. Actually, it is
her father's drawing room, since the portrait was made
during one of her visits to Paris; yet it is an appropriate

50. Reff, "Degas's Copies," pp. 255-256. The copy after Vero-
nese's Finding of Moses is illustratedin Burlington
Magazine105
(1963) p. 249, fig. I I.
5I. Letter from Tissot to Degas, September I8 [I86o?], in
Lemoisne, I, pp. 230-231.
52. Lemoisne, no. 255; dated there about I869. Degas implies
that it hasjust been completedin a note in B. N., Carnet2 I1, fol.
43; used in I868-I872, see note 39, above.

140
 He was undoubtedly encouraged to do so by the very
detailed description of the milieu in Naturalist litera-
ture, in which a window view or a picture frequently
plays an important role; an example relevant to both
portraits of his sister is the description of Mlle de Veran-
deuil's bedroom in the Goncourts' novel GerminieLacer-
teux.55a
Unlike the fine chalk drawing in The Bellelli Family,
the picture in the background of the later portrait of
Therese Morbilli, even when examined in detail (Fig-
ure 22), remains a broadly painted sketch, featureless
and evidently without further significance for the
whole. Yet it is rendered in sufficient detail to be
identified as the Bust of a Woman by J.-B. Perronneau
which later figured in the sale of Degas's collection
(Figure 23).56 And when this in turn is compared with

53. Raimondi, Degas e la suafamiglia,p. 150. See alsoJ. S. Boggs,

"Edgar Degas and Naples," BurlingtonMagazine I05 (i963) pp.
275-276.
54. Lemoisne, no. I09; according to Ren6 de Gas, it was painted
in Paris early in I863, during Therese's engagement.
55. The sketch is in B. N., Carnet i9, fol. i i; used in March
I86o, see Reff, "Degas's Notebooks," pp. 612-6I3. On the tra-
dition of iconographically significant window views, see L. Eitner,
"The Open Window and the Storm-Tossed Boat," Art Bulletin37
(i955) pp. 281-287.
FIGURE 20
55a. E. andJ. de Goncourt, GerminieLacerteux(Paris, I897 [first
Portrait of Therese de Gas, by Degas. Oil on ed. 1864]) pp. 2-3. For other examples, see J. Dangelzer, La
canvas. Musee du Louvre (photo: Archives descriptiondu milieu dans le romanfranfais de Balzac d Zola (Paris,
I938) pp. 25-54 and 135- I 5 I; also note I50, below.
Photographiques) 56. Cataloguedes tableaux . . . collectionEdgar Degas, Galerie
Georges Petit, Paris, March 26-27, I918, no. 4. No additional
information is given in L. Vaillat and P. Ratouis de Limay, J. B.
Perronneau, rev. ed. (Paris, 1923) pp. 200 and 227. Its presence in
setting, reminding us of her own home in Naples and of the portrait of Therese is noted in Boggs, Portraitsby Degas, p. 31.
her position as the wife of the Duke of Morbilli, a
wealthy and aristocratic cousin whom she had married FIGURE 2I

with special papal dispensation.53 View of Naples, by Degas. Watercolor, Carnet

In another portrait, painted in Paris on the eve of 19, fol. I I. Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris
her marriage in I863 (Figure 20), Degas showed
Therese standing in an equally dignified manner, ele-
gant in dress and impassive in expression, and in the
background he introduced an equally appropriate
detail-an open window providing a view of Naples,
the city in which she would soon begin her married
life.54 In depicting the city and the Gulf of Naples,
Degas relied on a watercolor sketch that he had made i: ---":
11*;.J:L
in a notebook during a visit in I86o (Figure 21), and
his incorporation of it into the portrait, where it is
framed as carefully as a painting, demonstrates again
how deliberately he planned such background effects.55

I4I
 the head of Therese, the appropriateness of its presence
- .... . ?..
'.. T'"
behind her, as the only recognizable picture among all
those shown, becomes more apparent. Although Per-
ronneau represents a mature woman in a conventional
pose and Degas a younger one posed more informally,
there is an obvious affinity in the turn of their heads,
the composure of their features, and the cool manner in
which they confront us. Thus the Rococo portrait,
discreetly introduced into the background of the Sec-
ond Empire one, places its subject in a larger social
context and confirms our impression of her personality.
How deliberately drawn the parallel was we cannot
say, since we know nothing about Degas's attitude
towards Therese at this time. But he may well have
sensed in her that haughtiness which later made him
observe wryly, during one of her visits to Paris, "que
son hotel doit etre bien organise, autrement les nobles
FIGURE 22
etrangers n'y afflueront pas," and which she herself
Detail from the Portrait of Therese Morbilli expressed in complaining that "la vie est trop penible
(photo: Laniepce) pres de lui, il gagne de ]'argent mais ne saitjamais ou
il en est."57 Certainly the contrast between his por-
FIGURE 23 traits of Therese and those of his younger sister Mar-
Portrait of a Woman, by Jean-Baptiste Perron-
guerite, who was more artistically inclined and who
neau. Oil on canvas. Formerly in the collection later married an architect, would seem to confirm this.58
of Edgar Degas, Paris (photo: Durand-Ruel)
Although the provenance of Perronneau's Bust of a
Woman cannot be traced before its appearance in
Degas's portrait around I869, it undoubtedly did be-
long to his father, a cultivated banker of the old bour-
geoisie, who was acquainted with such outstanding
collectors of eighteenth-century art as Lacaze and Mar-
cille and had in his own collection several pastels by La
Tour, which his son also inherited but was later obliged
to sell.59 That Degas, too, admired the psychological
penetration and technical accomplishment of La Tour
and Perronneau is evident not only from the memoirs
of his friend Blanche and his niece Jeanne Fevre, but
from his own pastel portraits.60 That of Therese Mor-
billi is particularly reminiscent of the older masters'

57. Both statementsare in letters from Therese Morbilli in

Paristo her husbandin Naples,the firstwrittenbetween1879and
i88I, the second on July 4, i88i; both are quoted in Boggs,
"Edgar Degas and Naples," p. 276.
58. See Boggs, Portraitsby Degas, pp. I I8 and 125 and the por-
traitslistedthere.
59. Lemoisne, I, pp. 8-9 and I73. One of the La Tours was
exhibitedin 1874as in the collectionof M. de Gas;see A. Besnard,
La Tour (Paris, 1928) p. I55, no. 326.
6o. J.-E. Blanche,"Portraitsde Degas,"Formes12 (February

142
palette in the subtle tones of yellow ochre, pearl gray, later a friend of Degas, added still others to their col-
blue, and white employed. lections.62 Hence no doubt Degas's own interest at this
This admiration is in turn part of a revival of interest time in the Rococo artist's portraiture and his decision
in Perronneau which took place precisely in the i 86os to introduce an example of it into a portrait whose
and in the circle of critics and collectors to which setting was, appropriately, his father's drawing room.
Degas and his father belonged. In these years, an im-
portant pastel by Perronneau was acquired by Emile
Levy, a successful painter and a friend of Degas, and
the Goncourts discussed him in L'Art du XVIIIe siecle as V I. The smallest and also the most puzzling of the
"un artiste que La Tour a eu raison de redouter et qui, pictures containing other pictures is one that Degas
en marchant derriere lui, a souvent dcu l'atteindre."61 painted in the same years as that of Therese Morbilli,
They themselves had recently bought "un magnifique but with a far more obscure intention. Generaily called
pastel de Perronneau," before which they would sit Sulking, and occasionally The Banker (Figure 24), it
"en adoration," and in the same years Eudoxe Mar- seems to waver between the kind of narrative episode
cille, a friend of Degas's father, and Camille Groult, implied in the first title and the kind of modern genre

1931) p. 22 ;J. Fevre, Mon oncleDegas, ed. P. Borel (Geneva, I949) 62. Ibid. On the Goncourts' acquisition, see E. and J. de Gon-
pp. 69-70, where, however, Perronneau is not mentioned explicitly. court, Journal,ed. R. Ricatte (Monaco, 1956) VI, p. I64, elltry of
6i. Quoted in Vaillat and Ratouis de Limay, Perronneau,pp. December 30, I863; and on Groult's acquisitions, see XVI, p. 201,
I44-146, where the revival of interest in this artist is traced. entry of January 8, I890.

FIGURE 24
Sulking, by Degas. Oil on canvas. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, bequest of Mrs. H. 0. Havemeyer,
the H. 0. Havemeyer Collection, 29.1 00.43
FIGURE 25
Steeple Chase Cracks, by
J. Harris after J. F. Her-
ring. Color engraving.
Bibliotheque Nationale,
Paris

scene implied in the second one.63 The positions and man shown in it is a bookmaker or an habitue of race-
expressions of the two figures, their relation to each tracks, as has been suggested, is another matter.66 The
other, even the identity of the setting and its signifi- period when it was painted was indeed one of greatly
cance for them, are at once highly suggestive and am- increased interest in horseracing and betting in France,
biguous. This ambiguity extends to the large picture the first agency of organized betting, based on a system
that hangs behind them, its rectangular shape care- of"paris mutuels" that is still used today, having been
fully placed to enclose their heads; for its prominence founded in I867, and the first periodical devoted ex-
implies that it contains a clue to the meaning of the clusively to racing news, the Journal des Coursesedited
whole, yet it cannot be related easily to their person- by Joseph Oller, having begun to appear in I869. By
alities or tastes, as in the examples discussed previously. that date Oller's Agence des Poules, J. S. Harry's Bet-
Although rendered in a broad, simplified style, this ting Office, and the Office Jones were all flourishing in
picture was obviously copied from an English racing Paris, and any one of them could conceivably have
print; more specifically, a color engraving of a painting inspired the setting of Degas's painting.67
byJ. F. Herring entitled Steeple Chase Cracks (Figure In all likelihood, however, it represents one of the
25).64 It probably belonged to Degas, since he also used small, privately owned banks which also flourished at
the galloping jockey in the foreground as a model for this time, before corporate banking replaced them; per-
the one in the foreground of The False Start, a work haps the bank on Rue de la Victoire owned by Degas's
that is exactly contemporary with Sulking; and as early father. For the furnishings and decor which Degas has
as 1861 he observed in a notebook that the landscape represented in detail-the window counter fitted with
around the stables at Haras du Pin was "absolument opaque glass at the left, the table piled with papers in
semblable a celles des courses et des chasses anglaises the center, and the rack filled with ledgers at the upper
coloriees."65 But whether the presence of a sporting right, all of which he studied separately at the site in
print in the background of Sulking signifies that the notebook drawings-are those of a banking rather

63. Lemoisne, no. 335; dated there about I873-I875. In fact, 65. B. N., Carnet i, fol. I63; used in I859-I864, see note 6,
it must have been painted about I869-I871, since there are studies above. The False Start is Lemoisne, no. 258; dated there 1869-
for it in B. N., Carnet 24, fols. 36, 37, and 39, which was used in I872.
those years; see Reff, "Degas's Notebooks," p. 6I4. For the recent 66. P. Lafond, Degas (Paris, I919) II, p. 5, where it is called Le
literature, see note i, above. Bureau; however, in I, p. 37, it is called Bouderie.
64. The engraving is byJ. Harris and was published as Fores's 67. See H. de Mirabal, Manueldescourses(Paris, I867) pp. 407-
National Sports, pl. 2, on October 25, I847. At his death, Degas 408 and 413-414; and H. Lee, Historiquedescoursesdechevaux(Paris,
owned another engraving by Harris after a sporting picture by I914) pp. 368-373 and 398-399. The first issue of the Journaldes
Herring; see Cataloguedesestampes... collectionEdgarDegas, no. I 99. Courses,published by Oller, appeared on June 5, 1869.

I44
than a betting office.68 Moreover, it is known that If the steeplechase print does not allude to the profes-
Degas, acting through his patron Faure, bought back sional relationship of the two figures in The Banker, it
six paintings from his dealer Durand-Ruel in March does unite them visually, its arch of galloping and leap-
1874, and that one of them was entitled Le Banquier.69 ing horses effectively linking their heads (Figure 26),
In that context, too, of course, an English sporting and in a manner which heightens the apparent tension
print would have been an appropriate element of the between them by providing a contrasting image of
decor. Yet Degas's conception of The Banker as an strenuous action directly behind them. Indeed, so
image of an exceptional moment, charged with antici- poignant is their mood that some writers have sought
pation and tension, transcends the purely naturalistic a specific narrative content, even a source in con-
description of a milieu, and still more the frequently temporary fiction; but none has been found, and none
discussed influence of photography, and seems instead probably existed. For as in the later picture Absinthe,
to have been inspired by another work of art. This is whose title is as inaccurate as Sulking is here, Degas
Rembrandt's Syndics of the Drapers' Guild, which has not illustrated a Naturalist novel, but rather a
also represents a business meeting that we seem to have theory of expression similar to that of the novelists, a
momentarily interrupted, one figure turning in virtual- theory which he and Duranty, his closest acquaintance
ly the same way to challenge us, and which also has in among the latter, had worked out at just this time.71 It
the background a picture that plays an important role is formulated in Duranty's essay "Sur la physiogno-
-symbolically, if not compositionally.70 mie," published in I867, and in Degas's contempo-

68. See the description of such a bank in G. Riviere, Mr. Degas, 9-September 5, I963, no. 3I; and J.-L. Vaudoyer, Beautesde la
bourgeoisdeParis (Paris, 1935) pp. 7-8. Degas's drawings, probably Provence(Paris, 1926) p. 79.
made in his father's bank, are cited in note 63, above, and one is 70. C. de Tolnay, "The Syndicsof the Drapers' Guild by Rem-
illustrated in BurlingtonMagazine 100 (1958) p. 242, fig. 39 (it is brandt," Gazettedes Beaux-Arts23 (I943) pp. 31-38. On Degas's
fol. 37, not fol. 39). interest in Rembrandt, see Reff, "Degas's Copies," p. 251.
69. See Gu6rin's note in Degas, Lettres,pp. 3I-32; and Le- 71. On their friendship, see L. E. Tabary, Duranty,itude bio-
moisne, I, p. 83. The influence of Degas's picture is evident in a graphiqueet critique(Paris, I954) pp. 146-149. On Absinthe (Le-
contemporary work by his friend De Valernes called The Visit to moisne, no. 393), see R. Pickvance, " 'L'Absinthe' in England,"
the Notary; see De Valerneset Degas, Musee de Carpentras, May Apollo 77 (I963) pp. 395-398.

FIGURE 26
Detail from Sulking

I45
 ..
-
e . 121,
", , -,.V.

lok,..
. A-,r
...x

FIGURE 27
Portrait of Edmond Duranty, by
Degas. Charcoal drawing. The Metro-
politan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund,
I9.51.9

FIGURE 28
Portrait of Emma Dobigny, by Degas.
Oil on canvas. Collection of Mrs.
Walter Feilchenfeldt, Zurich (photo:
Bulloz)

__w -
s~r~~r3- --- -

.--
qm. .
I .J.;a

I
FIGURE 29
The Conversation, by Degas. Oil on
canvas. Collection of Mr. and Mrs.
Paul Mellon, Upperville, Virginia

146
raneous statement, "Faire de la tete d'expression (style al and expressive device in The Banker is typical only
d'Academie) une etude du sentiment moderne," in of a certain period in his development becomes clear
other words, transformthe schematized and exaggerat- once this picture is compared with a later version called
ed physiognomies which were typical of the academic The Conversation (Figure 29), which was begun in
tradition into portrayals of the more complex emotions 1884 as a portrait of his friends the Bartholomes and
characteristicof modern spiritual life, such as the angry finished a decade later.76Here the emphasis falls en-
withdrawal of the man in The Banker and the sullen- tirely on the two figures, who are shown in intimate
ness of his companion.72 proximity rather than estranged; and the print behind
Hence it is appropriate that, again as in Absinthe, them, no longer a necessary means of linking them or
these figures, although essentially models for a genre of characterizing their environment, is reduced to a
scene rather than sitters for a group portrait, were barren landscape whose horizon alone is indicated by
friends of Degas with whose personalitiesand moods he the contrast between two broad areas of color.
was well acquainted. And it is particularly appropriate
that the male figure is Duranty, as is evident when his
contracted features and receding blond hair are com- VII. It was also around 1870, and also in the
pared with those in other portraits of him, including form of a popular print apparently employed as a
the well-known one by Degas himself of about a decade mere decorative element, that Degas devised one of his
later (Figure 27).73 Although he is shown in a different most ingenious background pictures. It is the litho-
mood there, we know from other sources that Duranty, graph showing a reunion of musicians that hangs be-
a pioneer in the Naturalist movement whose career was hind the violoncellist Pilet in Degas's portrait of him
later eclipsed by the fame of Flaubert and Zola, was seated in his study (Figure 30).7 In contrast to the
often as bitter and withdrawn as he appears in The sporting print, this one contains many portrait-like
Banker, his "physionomie douce, triste, et resignee.... figures, which are more distinctly rendered in black
Sa vie etait comme ecrite dans le rictus parfois dou- and white; indeed, itsvery absence of color, especially in
loureux de sa bouche."74 As for the female figure, her relation to the rathervivid tones employed elsewhere in
full yet rather fine features and chestnut-colored hair the composition, calls attention to it. So does the open
are those of Emma Dobigny, a favorite model of De- 'cello case, whose powerfully silhouetted covers, proba-
gas and one for whom he felt a special sympathy, to bly inspired by the bold treatment of foreground ele-
judge from the rather tender, self-ironic letter he wrote ments in Japanese prints, seem to point directly toward
to her and the portrait he painted of her at this time it.78 Moreover, one of these covers overlaps the litho-
(Figure 28), where she appears in a similarly pensive graph, its large, block-like form contrasting sharply
mood. 75 with the diminutive figures behind it. Through this
That Degas's use of the racing print as a composition- device, and through the equally striking contrast be-

72. B. N., Carnet 21, fols. 44-47; used in I868-1872, see note see T. Reff, "SomeUnpublishedLettersof Degas,"ArtBulletin50
39, above. Duranty, "Sur la physiognomie," La RevueLib6rale2 (1968) p. 9I.
(July 25, I867) pp. 499-523. 76. Lemoisne, no. 864; dated there 1885-1895; now in the col-
lection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, Upperville,Virginia. In a
73. Lemoisne, no. 517, dated there 1879. Reproduced above is
a study for it in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. See also Des- letter to Mme de Fleury,January8, I884 (Degas,Lettres,p. 76),
boutin's etched portrait of Duranty, illustrated in Rewald, he mentions"un portraitintimeou Mr. et Mme. Bartholomesont
Impressionism, p. 377. representesen tenue de ville." For photographsof them, see T.
Burrollet,"Bartholomeet Degas," L'Information de l'Histoirede
74. A. Silvestre, Au pays dessouvenirs(Paris, I887) pp. 174-175. l'Art12 (I967) pp. I I9-126.
The same description is given in George Moore's memoir, quoted
77. Lemoisne, no. 188; dated there I868-1869. Degas notes two
in Rewald, Impressionism, p. 435, note 6. Duranty was evidently addressesof Pilet and an appointmentwith him, in B. N., Carnet
also the model for the male figure in the Violinist and Young
22, fols. 33, 99, and 117; used in 1869-1873,see Reff, "Degas's
Woman (Lemoisne, no. 274) of about 1872.
Notebooks,"p. 614.
75. Lemoisne, no. I98; signed and dated I869; now in the col- 78. Y. Shinoda,Degas,derEinzugdesJapanischen indiefranzosische
lection of Mrs. Walter Feilchenfeldt, Zurich. For Degas's letter, Malerei(Tokyo, 1957) pp. 21-22.

I47
 s.
-
-

|I
I
h
^
Ik
.'
i:

!
.|

: ,J
I ,\

. A;

FIGURE 30
Portrait of M. Pilet, by
Degas. Oil on canvas. Musee
du Louvre (photo: Bulloz)

.*,.,1
v _.

Ir

FIGURE 31
Detail from the Portrait of
M. Pilet (photo: Agraci)

148
tween these figures and the imposing one of Pilet him-
self, we are led almost inevitably to examine their
relation to him.
When the picture behind Pilet is studied more close-
ly (Figure 3I), it can no longer be described simply as
a lithograph showing a group of celebrated musicians,
of the type which was popular in the Romantic period.
Its unconventional features become obvious once it is
compared with an actual example, such as the Cele-
brated Pianists by Nicolas Maurin (Figure 32), a popu-
lar portraitist of the I84os.79 Instead of a few clearly
depicted figures, Degas's print shows a gathering of
eighteen, some of whom are half obscured; and in-
stead of facing toward the center, the majority seem to FIGURE 32
look at something outside the composition at the left, Celebrated Pianists, by Nicolas Maurin. Litho-
the pianist even turning away from his instrument to graph. Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris
do so. What they look at, of course, is their colleague
Pilet, and the homage that they thus appear to pay him
is all the more flattering in that they can be identified learned about it from some of the musicians, including
as some of the most illustrious musicians and amateurs Pilet himself, with whom he was friendly around 1870
of music of the immediate past. and whose portraits he painted in The Orchestra.85
In the right-hand group we recognize Chopin seated In the context of these musical friendships, Degas's
at the piano in a typically lethargic pose, and surround- conception of the lithograph as a playful homage to
ing him several members of his circle: behind and Pilet seems entirely appropriate. It recalls Manet's use
slightly to the left, the poet and music critic Heine; of a similar device in his portrait of Zola, exhibited in
behind and slightly to the right, the pianist Liszt; and i868, where the figures in the three prints framed to-
at the extreme right, Delacroix.80 Between the latter gether in the background-a Japanese color woodcut
and Liszt stands the librettist Jacques Halevy; be- of a wrestler, Goya's etching after Velazquez's Los
tween Liszt and Heine, the composer Berlioz; and lean- Borrachos, and a photograph of Manet's own paint-
ing on the piano is Balzac.81 In the left-hand group we ing, Olympia-are either modified or so chosen to
recognize Theophile Gautier seated in the center, and
around him some of Chopin's other literary friends:
79. It was published in the series "Galerie de la Gazette Musi-
directly above Gautier, the novelist George Sand; to cale," no. 2, 1842. See also Kriehuber's lithograph Une Matinee
her left, the Polish poet Zalewski; and to her right, chez Liszt, published in 1846, illustrated in R. Bory, La vie de
Alfred de Musset.82At the extreme left are the musi- Frans Liszt par l'image (Paris, 1936) p. 124.
80. For portraits, see R. Bory, La vie deFredericChopinpar l'image
cologist Hiller and the actor Bocage; the other figures (Paris, 1951) p. 138 (Chopin), p. 89 (Heine), p. I14 (Liszt), and
cannot be identified as surely, but the 'cellist standing p. 88 (Delacroix).
behind the piano is probably Auguste Franchomme, 8 i. For portraits, see Bory, Freideric
Chopin,p. 91 (Halevy), p. 89
(Berlioz), and Bory, FransLiszt, p. 59 (Balzac).
Pilet's predecessor.83 82. For portraits, see Bory, Fridiric Chopin,p. 141 (Gautier), p.
As a whole, then, the scene is conceived as one of the 136 (Sand), p. 86 (Zalewski), and Bory, FransLiszt, p. 56 (Musset).
reunions in Chopin's studio in which he gave im- 83. For portraits, see Bory, FridericChopin,p. go90(Hiller), p. 142
and well have been in- (Bocage), and p. 92 (Franchomme). For help in identifying the
promptu performances, may
figures in Degas's picture, I am indebted to Mile Boschot of the
spired by an account of the first such performance-at Bibliotheque de l'Opera.
which Heine, Delacroix, George Sand, Hiller, and 84. F. Liszt, Fridiric Chopin,Eng. trans. (New York, 1963) pp.
Liszt were all present-in the latter's well-known go90-99; first published serially in La FranceMusicale, I85 I, and in
book form, Paris, I852.
memoir of Chopin, published in i852.84 If Degas were
85. Lemoisne, no. i86; dated there about 1869. On Degas's
not already familiar with it, he could easily have friendship with musicians at this time, see ibid., I, pp. 58-60.

I49
begin with that they seem to look in deference toward je ne veux pas etre victime du mauvais vouloir de quel-
Zola.86 And it anticipates Pissarro's use of the same ques uns. II faut un exemple. I1 le faut immediat."90
device in a portrait of Cezanne painted in I874, in Actually, Pilet was not dismissed, since he figures
which popular prints are placed on either side of him prominently in The Orchestra, painted three years
in such a way that the figures of Courbet and Thiers later; but his outspoken attitude was undoubtedly
shown in them turn toward and appear to salute him.87 discussed among the musicians and known to Degas,
The lithograph in Degas's portrait is conceived in the who at this moment was mounting his own attack on
same spirit, but even more ambitiously, since it at- the administration and would surely have admired it.91
tempts to capture the look of a familiar type of print That he recognized in Pilet an independent spirit like
rather than to reproduce a specific example, and it his own is evident in his portrait, both in the calm,
contains a great many figures, each of which has been determined expression on the musician's face and in
adapted from still another source, a portrait of the the respectful attitudes of his illustrious predecessors,
person represented. That he was successful, despite the whom Degas has ingeniously placed behind him.
small area within which he had to work, testifies to his
remarkable ability to summarize the characteristics of
a physiognomy in a few strokes, an ability of which his VI I I. In another portrait of a friend, this one a
caricatures are also impressive evidence.88 fellow artist (Figure 33), probably painted around
If the lithograph behind Pilet reflects a playfulness 1878, Degas returned to the theme of the studio which
appropriate to the spirit of friendship in which Degas he had employed a decade earlier in portraying James
conceived this portrait, it was also inspired by a re- Tissot; and here, too, the dimensions and legibility of
spect which makes even more meaningful the deference the pictures surrounding the figure give them an im-
shown by so many famous figures. For Pilet was more portant role in the composition and invite speculation
than an accomplished musician; he was also a cou- as to their meaning in relation to him.92 But their
rageous individual who had risked his position in the consistency of style and imagery, their unframed and
orchestra of the Opera a few years earlier by openly apparently unfinished condition, and the prominently
challenging its administration.89 In January I866, displayed paintbox, palette, and brushes all indicate
after many months of protesting for higher wages, a that they are his own works, recently completed or cur-
few of its members met with one of Louis Napoleon's rently in progress. In fact, the mannequin propped
ministers, and the results were reported by their con- against the wall beside him is obviously the model he
ductor, Georges Hainl. "Le plus grand nombre a fort has used for the similarly costumed figure in the larger
bien accueilli cette communication," he wrote to the picture. Unlike the portrait of Tissot, then, this one
Director of the Opera, "Cependant une voix a pro- seems simply to represent a fellow artist with two of
nonce les paroles suivantes: c'est de l'argent qu'il nous his paintings-outdoor scenes of informal pleasure and
faut. Cette voix etait celle de Mr Pilet violoncelliste." relaxation, Impressionist in spirit, that have little to do
Incensed by this challenge to his authority, Hainl insist- with Degas's own art of the later 187os. Yet this portrait,
ed that Pilet, who had played in the orchestra for over too, expresses an attitude of disillusionment which
twenty years, be fired immediately: "Je ne puis pas, reveals as much of Degas as of his subject, and does so

86. S. L. Faison, Jr., "Manet's Portrait of Zola," Magazine of ing to a chart in Paris, Archives Nationales, AJ xmI. 478: Personnel
Art 42 (1949) pp. I62-I68; however, this observation is not made des choeurs et de l'orchestre de l'Opera.
there. 90o. Letter from Georges Hainl, Premier Chef d'Orchestre, to
87. T. Reff, "Pissarro's Portrait of Cezanne," BurlingtonMaga- tmile Perrin, Directeur de l'Opera, January i i, I866, in Archives
zine 109 (I967) pp. 627-633. See also the background images in Nationales, A J xml. 478. On the musicians' demands for higher
Renoir's picture At the Inn of Mother Anthony, illustrated in wages, see also Le Temps,July i i, I865, and subsequent issues.
Rewald, Impressionism, p. 135. 9I. See his open letter to the members of the jury of the Salon of
88. See, among others, the ones in E. Degas, Albumdedessins,ed. 1870, in Reff, "Some Unpublished Letters of Degas," pp. 87-88.
D. Halevy (Paris, I949) which date from about I877. On his 92. Lemoisne, no. 326; dated there about I873; now in the
interest in caricature, see Boggs, Portraitsby Degas, pp. 53-54. Fundaaio Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon. It can be redated by
89. He had been a member of the orchestra since I845, accord- means of the iconographic evidence presented below.

150
FIGURE 33
Portrait of Henri Michel-Levy, by Degas. Oil on canvas. Fondacao Calouste Gulben-
kian, Lisbon

I'5
 through the choice and relation to him of the pictures A somewhat conservative minor Impressionist, Mi-
and objects as much as through his own appearance.93 chel-Levy was known to the major figures in the move-
This becomes evident, however, only when the pictures ment, particularly Manet and Monet, with whom he
and the artist himself have been identified. occasionally painted, and a work he exhibited at the
It has been suggested several times that he is Ce- Salon of I877 was singled out for praise by Duranty.98
zanne, a painter with whom Degas was of course Like Degas at an earlier date, he had been a pupil of
acquainted, and who might well have used such a Barrias, through whom they may have met; in any
mannequin for lack of live models.94 But the photo- event, they were acquainted, for his addresses appear
graphs and portraits cited as proof, and particularly three times in Degas's notebooks around I870.99 In
the one by Renoir that is not cited, show a quite dif- fact, Michel-Levy himself later reported that "ils
ferent head, rounder and more compact, with more etaient camarades d'atelier, chacun avait fait de
open eyes, a fuller beard, and a balder pate; and the l'autre un portrait," that he had sold Degas's portrait
picnic scene mentioned in relation to the picture at the of him for a high price, and that the latter, learning of
right resembles it only superficially.9' this, had remarked mercilessly: "Vous avez commis une
A more reliable clue was provided by Degas him- lachete; vous saviez bien que je ne pouvais pas vendre
self, who listed among his entries in the catalogue of the votre portrait."loo
Impressionist exhibition of I879 a "Portrait d'un If the main facts of Michel-Levy's career are known,
peintre dans son atelier" in the collection of a "Mr. H. his works have virtually disappeared. Hence it is hardly
M.-L."56 Although no contemporary review or memoir surprising that the picture at the right in Degas's por-
mentions it, very likely because Degas decided not to trait cannot be identified, although one that Michel-
exhibit it after all, it was undoubtedly the portrait Levy exhibited at the Salon of I878 as Promenade in
under discussion. For the only others in his oeuvrethat a Park suggests a similar subject.101 It is only through
could be so described are the portraits of Tissot and of the discovery of an old photograph that the one at the
a man in a white blouse, of which the former was too left can be identified as The Regattas (Figure 34),
early in date and the latter too unfinished in appearance which he showed at the Salon of I879, the very year
to be exhibited then.97 Now in I879, before the picture when Degas planned to show this portrait.l02 Obvious-
could have changed hands, "Mr. H. M.-L." could ly working from memory, Degas has altered the seated
only be the artist portrayed, and he in turn could only woman's position and rendered the foliage around her
be Henri Michel-Levy (1844- I 914), the one recorded in a more boldly simplified style, but it is clearly the
artist with these initials. right side of The Regattas that he has reproduced. The

93. Comparethe appearanceof the male figure in Le Viol the errorby placingMr. H. M.-L. in Montreal(probablybecause
(Lemoisne,no. 348), who alsoleansagainstthe wallwith his hands the Gulbenkianpicture was formerly in the collection of Sir
in his pockets.It was probablyaproposthe latter that Duranty GeorgeDrummond,Montreal).
wrote, in La nouvelle p. 43: "Des mains qu'on tient dans
peinture, 98. E. Duranty,"Reflexionsd'un bourgeoissur le salon de la
les poches pourront6tre eloquentes."On Le Viol, see also note peinture," Gazettedes Beaux-Arts 15 (1877) p. 560. On Michel-
150, below. Levy'scontactswith Monet,see L. Venturi,Lesarchives
del'impres-
94. See Boggs,PortraitsbyDegas,p. 55; European Paintings from sionisme(Paris, 1939) I, p. 248 and p. 249, note I.
the Gulbenkian National Gallery of Art (Washington,
Collection, 99. B. N., Carnet 8, fols. 216 and 221, and Carnet 22, fol. I 17;
1950) pp. 28-29; and the letter from B. Dorivalcited there, p. 28, the former was used in I867-I874, the latter in i869-I873, see
note 2. Reff, "Degas's Notebooks," pp. 613-614.
95. J. Rewald, Paul Cezanne,Eng. trans. (London, I950) pls. IOO.R. Gimpel, Journald'uncollectionneur (Paris, I963) pp. 262-
42 and 47 (photographs),pls. 4i and 46 (self-portraits),
and pl. 42 263, entry of March 27, 1924, recording information given to
(Renoir'sportrait). Lucien Guiraudby Michel-Levyhimself.The latter'sportraitof
96. Catalogue dela 4meexposition
depeinture,
28 Avenuede l'Op6ra, Degasdoes not figurein the salesof Degas'scollection.
Paris, April io-May II, I879, no. 69. See Lemoisne,I, p. 243, des ouvrages. . . exposesau Palais des Champs-
Ioi. Explication
note 129. Elysees,Paris, I878, no. 1435. See also the review of his retrospective
97. Lemoisne,nos. 175and 337. Accordingto Lemoisne,it was exhibition in La Chronique des Arts (1911 ) p. 277.
the latter that Degas exhibited;accordingto Lafond,Degas,II, 102. Explication des ouvrages. . . exposisau Palais desChamps-
p. 15, it was the former. Neither statement is supported by the Elyse'es,Paris, I879, no. 2147. The photograph was published by
provenancegiven by Degas himself; and Lemoisnecompounds Goupilet Cie.

152
 especially Watteau, the creator of the fete galante.
Indeed, the posthumous sale of his collection contained
twelve paintings and thirty-three drawings by Wat-
teau, as well as works by Boucher, Fragonard, and
others, some of which might well be compared with the
two by Michel-Levy himself that Degas has repro-
duced. 104
Ironically, however, Michel-Levy appears in De-
gas's portrait as a withdrawn and disillusioned man,
altogether removed from the scenes of pleasure and
conviviality that surroundhim, and made to seem even
more isolated by their very presence. Moreover, the
most conspicuous figure in each picture appears to turn
its back on him, as does the mannequin placed on the
floor beside him. Compositionally, the mannequin,
which is in effect the third work of art, closes a series of
triangles that surround the artist on all sides. This
hermetic effect is reinforced by the shallow space in
which he stands, his back literally against the wall, his
exits blocked visually by his own creations or instru-
ments of creation.105 Symbolically, the mannequin
plays the role of his "companion," one that is indeed
lifelike in scale and appearance, yet is shown in a
FIGURE 34 particularly lifeless posture. Its poignancy is echoed in
The Regattas, by Henri Michel-Levy. Oil on the female figure in The Regattas, which appears even
canvas. Present whereabouts unknown more inanimate and remote-an imitation of an
imitation of reality. The mood of pessimism which
results becomes more apparent when Degas's image is
other picture, although painted even more summarily, compared with a typically Impressionist one, such as
represents a similar occasion-two men and a woman the portrait by Guillaumin of the painter Martinez,
seated or reclining outdoors, and two women with which dates from the same years, and suggests an at-
parasols strolling toward them. titude of confidence and naturalnessboth in the relaxed
In choosing these elegant, idyllic scenes, Degas in position of the figure and in the casual disposition of
effect characterizes his friend's art as an Impressionist the works of art around him.106
equivalent of the Rococo fete galante,although it was That there is in Degas's picture much of Michel-
also an art of landscapes and urban genre scenes, Levy himself, a man of whom one acquaintance wrote,
to judge from the titles in exhibition and sale cata- "Je ne connais pas d'homme plus reticent, plus defiant
logues.103 Thus Degas alludes not only to the general de soi-meme que cet artiste sincere et fin.... II a reve,
affinities between Impressionism and the Rococo, but regarde, peint, travaille, vecu pour soi, loin des vaines
to the influence exerted on Michel-Levy by his own et folles agitations," cannot be doubted.107But that
outstanding collection of eighteenth-century masters, there is also in it much of Degas's own conception of

103. Cataloguede tableaux . . . composantl'atelier de M. M.-L., 105. For similar observations on the mannequin, the paintings,
H6tel Drouot, Paris, December 21, i891, nos. 1-54; Exposition and his own position, "trapped like an animal in a corner," see
Henri Michel-Livy,Galerie Bemheim-Jeune, Paris, November 20- Boggs, Portraitsby Degas, pp. 55-56.
December 2, 191 , passim. io6. It is dated 1878, and illustrated in Rewald, Impressionism,
104. Cataloguedes tableaux .. collectionH. Michel-Levy,Galerie p. 427.
Georges Petit, Paris, May 12-13, 1919; on this sale, see La Chronique 107. L. Vauxcelles, preface to the catalogue of the Exposition
des Arts (1917-1919) p. 191. Henri Michel-Levy,cited above, note 103.

I53
the artist as an unsocial being who lives in a world of his freedom of execution are without parallel in his art. A
own invention, and particularly of Degas's sense of him- talented amateur who was better known as an engineer
self as a frustrated, embittered man whose deepest and as a collector of modern art, Rouart had studied
needs have remained unfulfilled, also cannot be doubt- with Corot, hence preferredmore picturesquesites such
ed. We have only to read his letters, such as the one he as Venice, Avignon, and Marseille, and worked in a
wrote to a colleague in 1884, "Si vous etiez celibataire more cautious style, of which Valery later observed:
et age de 50 ans, vous auriez de ces moments-la, oiu on "II s'etait fait un metier des plus serres,d'une precision
se ferme comme une porte, et non pas seulement sur et d'une justesse remarquables."110Therefore, the
ses amis; on supprime tout autour de soi, et une fois landscape in Degas's portrait should probably be un-
tout seul, on s'annihile, on se tue enfin, par degouft,"to derstood as an acknowledgment of Rouart's general
realize how profoundly true an image of himself this interest in landscape painting, which Degas himself
painting is. 108
Io8. Letter to Henry Lerolle, August 2 I, 1884, in Degas, Lettres,
pp. 79-81. See also the letter to Bartholome, December I9, 1884,
I X. If, in the portraits discussed thus far, the pic- ibid., p. 99, in which he describes himself as "l'homme qui veut
tures represented in the background appear either to finir et mourir tout seul, sans bonheur aucun."
i09. Lemoisne, no. 424; dated there about I877; now in the
have existed in reality or to have been invented with a
collection of Dr. and Mrs. RudolfJ. Heinemann, New York.
particular thematic purpose in mind, the one that is I 0. P. Valery, preface to the catalogue of Peintureset aquarelles
shown behind Henri Rouart in Degas's portrait of him par Henri Rouart,Galerie Paul Rosenberg, Paris, March 20-April
with his daughter (Figure 35) of about I877 cannot be I2, I933. For other examples of his art, see the catalogue of a
similar exhibition at Galeries Durand-Ruel, Paris, March I6-30,
explained in either way.109It has been called "one of I912. M. Louis Rouart has also expressed the opinion that the
his landscapes," but its boldness of conception and picture in Degas's portrait cannot be one by his father.

FIGURE 35
Portrait of Henri Rouart
and Helene, by Degas. Oil
on canvas. Collection of Dr.
and Mrs.RudolfHeine- I
mann, New York

I54
FIGURE 36 v .I

Portrait of Diego Martelli, by

^~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It ..

Degas. Oil on canvas. The '~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

National Galleries of Scotland,
Edinburgh

encouraged by inviting him to exhibit with the Impres- to his professional activities, rather than as a work he
sionists, rather than as a particular work by him. This actually owned. For not only is there no such work in
becomes clearer when it is compared with the easily the inventory of his collection, which he willed intact to
identified, symbolically significant works of art that the Galleria d'Arte Moderna in Florence,113 but its
often appear in portraits of artists in the Romantic appearance varies from one to another of the prepara-
period, such as that of Michelangelo by Delacroix and tory studies for Degas's portrait, and takes still another
those of Tintoretto and Raphael by Ingres; the latter form, that of a loosely painted landscape, in a second
may even have been in Degas's mind, since he shows
I I. G. Wildenstein, Ingres(London, 1956) nos. 86, 88, 89, etc.
Helene Rouart seated on her father's lap like the For-
(the "Raphael") and nos. 46 and 253 (the "Tintoretto"). C. de
narina on Raphael's in some of Ingres's pictures.111 Tolnay, " 'Michel-Ange dans son atelier' par Delacroix," Ga-
Also without further significance is the large picture zettedesBeaux-Arts59 (I962) pp. 43-52.
112. Lemoisne, no. 519; painted in I879. On his career and
in the background of Degas's portrait of Diego Mar-
contact with Degas, see L. Vitali, "Three Italian Friends of
telli (Figure 36), a Florentine art critic who visited Degas," BurlingtonMagazine 105 (I963) pp. 269-270.
Paris in I878-1879, when Degas painted him in his I 3. The only possibilities would be the works by De Nittis and
apartment, and who was on his return the first to Zandomeneghi, for which see A. Jahn-Rusconi, La galleria d'arte
modernaa Firenze(Rome, 1934) pp. 17 and 23. The inventory is in
champion Impressionistpainting in Italy.112 The back- Florence, R. Biblioteca Marucelliana, Raccolta Martelli; I am
ground picture should probably be seen as an allusion indebted to Mr. Lamberto Vitali for information on its contents.

155
 ture, but an abstract design whose pale red, yellow,
and blue tones echo those found elsewhere in the
composition, just as its curved contour repeats that of
the sofa below it, effectively reinforcing the apparent
rotundity of Martelli's compact figure.

X. A number of conspicuous and unidentifiable pic-

tures also appear in the background of Degas's pastel
Mary Cassatt at the Louvre (Figure 37)-a work that is
contemporary with the portrait of Martelli-and also
in order to characterize the setting rather than to com-
ment indirectly on the personality or taste of the
individuals shown.115 For if this apparently simple
scene of visitors in the Grande Galerie is in fact a
rather sophisticated portrait of Degas's friend and
pupil Mary Cassatt and her sister Lydia,116 its effective-
ness in describing them depends neither on the nature
of the pictures behind them nor on their facial expres-
sions, which are likewise hidden or ambiguous, but
rather on the expressiveness of their postures and the
silhouettes that these produce against the strikingly
bare surfaces of the parquet floor and marble dado of
the gallery. Although probably inspired by the piquant
flattening and simplification of shapes in Japanese
FIGURE 37 prints, the shrewdly contrasted silhouettes of the two
Mary Cassatt at the Louvre, by Degas. Pastel. women are fundamentally European in their expres-
Private collection, New York (photo: Durand- sion of personality.117That of the standing woman,
Ruel) which Degas studied repeatedly in a notebook of
around 1879, is particularly effective in this respect,
version of it.114 Unlike the latter, however, the picture for "her slender, erect figure, neatly tailored, and her
in the first version is impossible to identify even generi- crisply furled umbrella all convey to us something of
cally; it has been described as a "framed fan," but the Mary Cassatt's tense, energetic character."118
curvature of a fan would be downward rather than up- Degas's essentially European realism is also evident
ward, and its size would be much smaller. What we in the care he took to reproduce accurately the ap-
see, then, is not a fragment of a real or imagined pic- pearance of the Grande Galerie: on another page of

114. Lemoisne, no. 520; now in the Museo de Bellas Artes, contemporary genre pictures by Cassatt, on which see pp. 51 and
Buenos Aires. For preparatory studies which show the back- 64-65.
ground, see B. N., Carnet 23, fol. 25; Fifty Master Drawings in the I i 7. Shinoda, Degas, der Einzug des Japanischen,pp. 81-82 and
National Galleryof Scotland(Edinburgh, I96i) no. 49; and J. S. pls. 73-74. In a preparatory study, illustrated in Boggs, Drawings
Boggs, Drawingsby Degas (New York, I967) no. 88. by Degas, no. 85, Degas emphasizes just this aspect of their silhou-
115. Lemoisne, no. 58I; dated there i88o; now in a private ettes.
collection, New York. It is probably the work that Degas lists I I8. Sweet, Miss Mary Cassatt, p. 50; on her friendship with
among those he plans to show in the Impressionist exhibition of Degas, see pp. 32-33 and 39-40. The studies are in Guerin Carnet
1879, in B. N., Carnet 23, fols. 66 and 68. For other versions, see 4, fols. 8 verso, 9, and 15; see Reff, "Degas's Notebooks," p. 6i5.
note i i, above. Duranty had already declared in La nouvellepeinture,p. 42: "Avec
1I6. F. A. Sweet, Miss Mary Cassatt (Norman, Oklahoma, un dos, nous voulons que se revele un temperament, un age, un
1966) p. 50; compare the appearance of Lydia in pls. iv and I0, etat social."

156
 FIGURE 39
2~
Mary Cassatt at the Louvre, by Degas.
Etching and aquatint. Bibliotheque
Nationale, Paris

The
Bir..th of Louis XIII119

' '
Pencil drawing, Guin Carnet 4, fol i. Private

it then in the Grande

iwas hung Galerie. Degas's FIGURE 40
ollect. drawAgraci)
Sarcophagus from Cervetri, Etruscan, vi century
B.C. Polychromed terracotta. Musee du Louvre

(photo: Agraci)
Thefigures
ofudy at the Louvre,baseddirect-gas.
Cassatt
for Mary and Lydia v

onPeby
head those
and shoulders, and but
in the pastel, now
above shown
it part of fol.elaborately
the
contempl4,. Privating

4, fl , andabove itsverso heobserved with equal

isheadand shoulderst
on one of the pictures that hung there
carved for accuracy:me

i:. Villot, Noticedes tableau... du Mus'e ImpirialduLouvre,II,

soieries noirs sont plus clairs que les tableaux sombres."

I57
(Figure 39), appear once again in an etching that De- even to beckon toward, the figure of Lydia Cassatt,
gas made around i88o.120 His choice of the famous who in turn seems to look up from her guidebook in
sarcophagus from Cervetri is not surprising, since it order to meet their glances, while her sister Mary faces
was already well known at the time and was appreciat- them directly. When seen from this angle, the figures
ed in a manner he would surely have found congenial. on the sarcophagus do appear this way (Figure 40),
Thus, it was described in a popular guidebook as "une but the angle was undoubtedly chosen in order to
oeuvre etrange, 'ala fois raffinee et sauvage," and in a produce such a confrontation between the pairs of liv-
history of Etruscan art as having "quelque chose de ing and sculpted figures.124 In effect, then, Degas's
vivant et d'expressif qu'une coloration vive contribue image is a witty, modern equivalent of the older one,
encore a accentuer."'2' Moreover, the representation especially popular in medieval and Renaissance art,
of its complicated forms, seen through a glass case that of the Three Living Meeting the Three Dead. Yet it
both reflects light and frames the luminous window remains nevertheless a scene of contemporary life and
behind it, undoubtedly posed a technical problem for a rather shrewd portrait of two of his friends.
Degas, one which he must have been all the more
anxious to solve since this print was to mark his public
debut in the field of graphic art. It was to be his X I. The latest in date and also the most varied in
contribution to Le Jour et la Nuit, a periodical devoted subject matter of the portraits in which pictures appear
to original prints, which he was then organizing with is the one that Degas painted of Helene Rouart in
Bracquemond, Pissarro,and Mary Cassattherself. The I886 (Figure 41), almost a decade after he had shown
technique of aquatint, which he has employed so freely her as a girl with her father.125Although a poised and
and inventively here, was to be an important element independent young woman now-and her unusual
in all their prints.122 relation to the chair, a feature which appears more
That Degas has achieved more than a technical tour unconventional in Degas's preparatory studies, is an
de force, however, becomes evident when his print is indication of this-she is still representedin her father's
compared with contemporary pictures of visitors in the studio, surroundedby worksof art in which his presence
Louvre's sculpture galleries, such as those by his former is felt.126As we have seen, it was largely as a collector,
colleague Tissot. For if the latter's view of the Rotonde rather than as an artist, that Henri Rouart was best
de Mars, probably painted around I884, is more suc- known, and Degas, who was one of his closest friends,
cessful as an illusion-so much so, that all the antiqui- has acknowledged this by characterizing the pictures
ties shown in it and even the Pavillon de Sully seen and objects behind her as vividly as Helene herself. If
through the window can be identified-it is also more it is a portrait of her as the daughter of a famous col-
pedantic, and lacks the flair and especially the wit that lector, however, it is also an image of the cultivated
are characteristic of Degas's image.123 This is evident milieu which his intelligence and taste enabled him to
not only in his original handling of the graphic media, create, and in which she was raised to appreciate the
but in a carefully contrived'and amusing detail: the values of many types of art. How much at ease she
husband and wife shown reclining on the Etruscan seems in it becomes clearer when Degas's portrait is
sarcophagus appear to turn toward, and the husband compared with the one he had painted of his sister

I20. Delteil, no. 30, sixth state; dated there 1876. But un- 3-4 and figs. 8-9. Not identified there is the statue of Dionysos
doubtedly etched in I879-I880; see P. Moses in Etchingsby Edgar (Louvre 222) at the extreme right in fig. 9.
Degas, University of Chicago, May 4-June 12, I964, no. 30.
124. Degas studied the sarcophagus alone from this angle; see
12I. H. O'Shea, LesmuseesduLouvre,guidepopulaire(Paris, I892) Cataloguedes tableaux. . . par Edgar Degas et provenantde son atelier,
p. 398;J. Martha [J.Jules], L'art trusque(Paris, I889) p. 350. Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, July 2-4, 1919, no. 25oa.

122. See Degas's letters to Bracquemond and to Pissarro, I879- 125. Lemoisne, no. 869; dated there i886; now in the collection
I88o, in Degas, Lettres,pp. 45-55. of Gimpel Fils, Ltd, London.

123. H.J. Gourley III, "Tissots in the Museum's Collection," 126. For the studies, see Lemoisne, nos. 870, 870 bis, and 871,
Bulletin of the RhodeIsland Schoolof Design 50 (March I964) pp. all signed and dated I886, and B. N., Carnet 6, fols. 204-207.

158
FIGURE 4I
Portrait of Helene Rouart, by
Degas. Oil on canvas. Collection
of Gimpel Fils, Ltd, London
(photo: Durand-Ruel)

FIGURE 42
Detail from wall hanging,
Chinese, Ch'ing Dynasty. Em-
broidered silk. Collection of
M. Edmond Fournier, Paris

'59
 X-~--
'-._
- Therese standing rather stiffly in her father's richly
furnished drawing room, with an equally formal Per-
ronneau portrait behind her (Figure ig).127
* As if to emphasize the essentially artistic and intel-
lectual character of Helene Rouart's home, Degas has
placed a table piled with books and papers in the fore-
..i ground, and has surrounded her with a remarkable
;-' variety of works of art. In the glass case are three
Egyptian wood sculptures, of which the nearest one
alone is rendered clearly enough to be identified; it is
an Ushabti, or funerary statuette, of the Middle King-
dom, and was for many years in the collection of Louis
Rouart, who inherited it from his father.128 Above it is
part of a large Chinese silk hanging, whose embroidered
ornament (more intelligible when seen in color) con-
sists of dragons and "dogs of Fo" on a crimson ground,
of a type woven in the Ch'ing Dynasty (Figure 42).129
Yet these works of ancient and exotic art, although
obviously part of Henri Rouart's collection, were hard-
ly typical of it; for its greatest strength was in European
art, especially of the nineteenth-century French school,
many of whose masters he had known personally.
Hence the presence of these works probably reflects
Degas's own interests. As a student, he had copied

127. A similar comparison is made in Boggs, Portraitsby Degas,

p. 68. The appearance and atmosphere of Rouart's home are
vividlydescribedinJ.-E. Blanche,Proposdepeintre,deDavida Degas
(Paris, 1919) pp. 245-276.
128. See F. Petrie, Shabtis (London, 1935) pls. XLIV and XLV;
and Gimpel,Journald'uncollectionneur,p. 418, entry of April 30,
1930, recordinginformationgivenby LouisRouart.I am indebted
to M. Rouartfor discussinghis collectionwith me.
I29. For the example reproducedhere, see H. d'Ardennede
Tizac, TheStuffsof China,Weavings andEmbroideries,Eng. trans.
(London, 1924) p. 12 and pl. 34. For a color reproduction of the
Degas, see Boggs,Portraits
byDegas,pl. 124.

FIGURE 43
Detail from the Portraitof Helene Rouart (photo:
Todd-White)

FIGURE 44
Naples and the Castello dell'Ovo, by Camille
Corot. Oil on canvas. Formerly in the collection
of Henri Rouart, Paris (photo: Paul Rosenberg)

i6o
extensively after Egyptian art; and according to his
niece, "apres avoir lu Le Roman de la Momie, [il]
s'interessea tout ce qui touche a la vie des Egyptiens au /
. 4
J f'
temps des Pharaons."130Early in his career, he had
also studied Far Eastern art, as we have seen in The
Collector of Prints and the Portrait of James Tissot,
which actually represent oriental costumes and em-
broidered fabrics.
More appropriate as expressions of Rouart's own
taste are the painting and drawing behind Helene at
the right side of the composition (Figure 43). Although
rendered in paler tones and a broader style than the
figure and chair adjacent to them, both works can be
identified. The painting is Corot's Naples and the
Castello dell'Ovo (Figure 44), one of an outstanding
group of early landscapes by him which particularly
impressed those who visited Rouart's collection.13
Many years later, .a visitor recalled both the vivid
coloring of this "magnifique marine" and the many
hours he had spent discussing the master's work with
his host, who had in fact known Corot and received
some lessons from him.32 The same is true of Millet;
_._i. -m

and, appropriately, he is represented by the study of a

peasant woman (Figure 45) that hangs below the FIGURE 45
Corot; it is one of an even larger series of pastels and Study of a Peasant Woman, by Jean-Fran?ois
sketches by him, which were among Rouart's most Millet. Crayon drawing. Musee du Louvre
valued possessions.133A colleague later described how
the latter, even as an old, infirm man, "malade et
pouvant a peine se lever d'un fauteuil, . . . tint a me Like Corot, he responded particularly to its vivid
reparler de Millet, et s'appuyant sur mon bras, se contrasts of color and light, observing, for example, in
trainajusqu'a un coin obscur ou il alluma une bougie, a notebook of i86o that "le Chateau de l'Oeuf se de-
pour me montrer un tout petit dessin."134 Thus the
early Corot landscape and the Millet drawing, al- 130. Fevre, Mon oncleDegas, p. 50. On the early copies, see T.
though not the most valuable works in a collection Reff, "Addenda on Degas's Copies," BurlingtonMagazine 107
which included pictures by El Greco, Chardin, Goya, (1965) p. 320.
and Degas himself, were evidently among the most 131. Cataloguedes tableaux. . . collectiondefeu M. Henri Rouart,
Galerie Manzi-Joyant, Paris, December 9-I I, 1912, nos. 104-149,
significant in Rouart's own judgment, and were proba- passim; the Naples landscape, dated 1828, is no. I44. Its presence
bly chosen by Degas as such. in the portrait of Helene was noted in Degas, Musee de l'Orangerie,
Like the Chinese silk hanging and the Egyptian Paris, March-April 1937, no. 44.
132. D. Baud-Bovy, Corot (Geneva, n.d. [1957]) pp. 38-41. On
sculptures, however, one of them must also have had Rouart's preference for the early Corot, see also Blanche, Propos
a particular attraction for Degas; not the Millet, of depeintre,p. 274.
course, the rustic in art never having interested him, 133. Cataloguedes dessinset pastels . . . collectiondefeu M. Henri
Rouart,Galerie Manzi-Joyant, Paris, December I 6-i 8, 1912, nos.
but the Corot, which would have appealed to him for
209-266, passim; the drawing of a peasant woman is no. 231.
two reasons. As a view of the Bay of Naples, it recalled 134. Blanche, Proposdepeintre,p. 270. On Rouart's acquaintance
a scene he had often admired as a young man, while with Millet, see Lemoisne, I, pp. 145-I46.
I35. See his letters to Bartholome and Halevy, written from
visiting relatives in that city, and had seen again in
Naples in January I886, in Degas, Lettres,pp. 113-11
I 9; also Boggs,
I886, the very year in which he painted this portrait.135 "Edgar Degas and Naples," p. 276.

i6i
tachait sur les pentes rosees du Vesuve, etant lui ver- through him that Degas was able as a young man to
datre et noir comme en hiver."136 Two of his earliest meet Ingres-an occasion he never forgot.141 Hence
landscapes are in fact small, broadly executed views of the prominence he has given to the pictures, which fill
the Bay of Naples and the Castello dell'Ovo, un- both walls of the billiard room, the space above the
doubtedly painted under the older artist's influence.137 doorway, and a wall of the room visible beyond it,
Hence the picture in Rouart's collection would also creating an effect like that in the portrait of Mary
have interested Degas as a brilliant example of Corot's Cassatt in the Grande Galerie, but with a greater
style, and especially of his early style, for he, too, pre- emphasis on the pictures themselves.
ferred it to the later, more popular style. Indeed, his Yet only the largest of them, the one in the center of
own collection contained seven Corotsby the time of his each wall of the billiard room, is shown in sufficient
death, almost all of which were small landscapes of the detail to be identified. At the right is an eighteenth-
early Italian period; and appropriately, when he was century tapestry representing Esther Swooning before
considering the purchase of two of them in I898, he Ahasuerus, which was still at Menil-Hubert before the
asked Rouart to confirm their authenticity. 138 Second World War, but was removed or destroyed at
that time.142At the left is a painting of a typically
rustic scene by the Neapolitan artist Giuseppe Palizzi,
X I I. If, in the portrait of Helene Rouart, and in the Animals at a Watering Place of about 1865 (Figure
the earlier ones of Tissot and Michel-Levy, the works 47).13 Clearly uninterested in its rather dryly rendered
of art around them seem as important as the figures genre details, Degas has suppressed the foreground
themselves in defining their interests or personalities, entirely in his copy and has given the earth, and
they are neverthelesssubordinated to the latter compo- especially the horizon, a rhythmic curvature lacking in
sitionally. Only on two occasions, during a sojourn in the more static original. However, these changes do
his friend Paul Valpinqon's chateau at Menil-Hubert not necessarilyimply a criticism, since there is a similar
in I892, did Degas eliminate the figure and attempt tendency to simplify and abstract a broad pattern of
instead to paint a portrait of his environment. In The tones in his late copies after artistshe surely did admire,
Interior (Figure i), he representedhis own room in the such as Corot (in the Portrait of Helene Rouart) and
chateau, playing ingeniously with the motives of the Mantegna (in a pastel drawn in 1897).T44 In fact, Degas
picture, the mirror, and the doorway, as we have seen, may have met Palizzi, the leader of the so-called School
but also capturing the provincial charm of this simply of Pausilippus, during one of his sojourns in Naples,
furnished, yet cheerful and luminous place.139And in and may have been interested in the picture for that
The Billiard Room (Figure 46), he depicted one of the reason.
more elaborately furnished areas used for entertain-
ment and the display of Valpin?on's extensive col-
lection of paintings.140 He was in fact the son of a X I I I. Viewed in retrospect, the pictures within
famous collector and friend of Ingres, and it was Degas's pictures are not only surprisingly numerous,

136. B. N., Carnet I9, fol. 6; used in I86o, see note 55, above. I40. Lemoisne, no. I I I5; dated there i892; there is a second,
137. Not in Lemoisne;see Catalogue II
destableaux. . . collection less finished version, Lemoisne, no. 34. On the circumstances in
EdgarDegas (2mevente),H6tel Drouot, Paris, November 15-I6, which they were painted, see S. Barazzetti, "Degas et ses amis
I918, no. 42 (as "tcole moderne"),and Cataloguedestableaux ... Valpingon-III," Beaux-Arts,no. I92 (September 4, 1936) p. i.
deMlleJ. Fevre,GalerieCharpentier,Paris,June 12, 1934,
collection 14I. Moreau-N6eaton, "Deux heures avec Degas," pp. 269-
no. I42. 270.
138. Letter to Henri Rouart, June 30, I898, in Degas, Lettres, 142. For information on this and the following work, I am
p. 223. For the Corotshe owned at his death, see Catalogue des indebted to M. Paul Brame, who made an inventory of the col-
tableaux . .. collection
EdgarDegas,nos. I6-22. On his admiration lection at Menil-Hubert after the war.
for that master,see also Baud-Bovy,Corot,pp. 130 and 268. 143. Not listed in A. Mezzetti, "Contributi alla pittura italiana
139. See note 5, above. In the letterto Bartholome,August27, dell' 800. Giuseppe Palizzi," Bollettinod'Arte40 (1955) pp. 244-
1892,which is cited there,Degas characteristically refersonly to 258 and 334-345; but see p. 339, fig. 20, a similar work dated I866.
the technical problem of representingan interior in correct 144. Reff, "Degas's Copies," p. 256 and p. 253, fig. 5; see also
perspective. pp. 255-256 on the style of his later copies.

162
 FIGURE 46
The Billiard Room, by
Degas. Oil on canvas.
Collection of M. Charles
Comiot, Paris (photo:
Durand-Ruel)

FIGURE 47
Animals at a Watering
Place, by Giuseppe Palizzi.
Oil on canvas. Formerly in
the collection of Paul
Valpin,on, Menil-Hubert
(photo: Brame)

163
 but so diverse in subject and style as to appear almost motive of the picture coincides roughly with that of his
unintelligible as a group. Nevertheless, when they are greatest interest in portraiture. Within that, however,
arranged chronologically, as they have been here, they there is a smaller interval, from 1866 to 188o, or rather,
reveal patterns of occurrence, function, and taste that two still smaller intervals, from I866 to I871 and from
are meaningful in terms of Degas's artistic develop- I877 to I88o, which comprise most of the examples we
ment. It is surely no coincidence, for example, that the have discussed. It is especially in the first of these
first and last works in which pictures appear prominent- periods that Degas, encouraged by Duranty, Manet,
ly, The Bellelli Family of about 186o and The Billiard and other members of the Naturalist movement, who
Room of I892, are also the first and last in which he are convinced that in modern portraiture "nous ne
attempts to characterize a room in relation to the separerons plus le personnage du fond d'apparte-
personalities and tastes of the individuals who inhabit ment,"148 explores the expressive possibilities of the
it.145 Nor is it an accident that, between these terminal background, and particularly of the picture in the
dates, all the examples we have discussed are either background, in such complex and subtle works as The
portraits or, in the case of The Banker and Mary Cas- Collector of Prints, The Banker, and the portraits of
satt at the Louvre, portrait-like genre scenes, whose Tissot and Pilet. Moreover, it is in precisely these years
background pictures or objects serve to identify the that Degas tends to include small prints of an essentially
characteristic ambience of the person portrayed or to documentary value in such realistically depicted in-
comment on some aspect of his professional life. teriors as those of the Portraits in an Office, The Cotton
Unlike his colleagues Cezanne and Gauguin, whose Merchants, and The Pedicure.149 In the most intriguing
still lifes sometimes include works of art strikingly of these interiors, the so-called Le Viol, his practice
juxtaposed with the non-mimetic objects around them, actually coincides with that of the Naturalist writers,
Degas was too deeply attached to the representation of since it is inspired by an episode in Zola's novel Made-
human beings to experiment with this form.146 Even leineFirat, in which particular importance is attached to
those pictures in which figures are not shown, name- the visual effect and symbolic significance of a series of
ly, The Interior and The Billiard Room, are conceived prints decorating the walls of the hotel room in which
so entirely in terms of human associations that they can the episode occurs.150
be called portraits of rooms. Indeed, in their concern In most cases, Degas copies the background picture
with personality and mood, they resemble Impres- or object from an actual one, often in a broader, more
sionist interiors much less than those of the Romantic summary style, but with sufficient fidelity for the latter
period, one of which, Delacroix's well-known study of to be identified; here he relies on his phenomenal visual
the Count de Mornay's Bedroom, Degas acquired some memory and on techniques he has acquired in years
years later and, significantly, considered one of the of copying as a student.151 In the relatively few cases
three most important works in his collection.147 where he obviously invents the work of art, it is for a
Thus the period of Degas's greatest interest in the specific reason: to characterize a style or type of art, in

I45. In the only later works in which pictures appear-The 148. Duranty, La nouvellepeinture,pp. 44-46. In his "Salon de
Toilet (Lemoisne, no. I288) and the Woman Drying Her Hair (no. I870," Paris-Journal,May 8, 1870, Duranty had in fact criticized
1454) -both the figures and the pictures behind them are anony- Degas's Portrait of Mme Camus for its lack of "l'accord, auquel
mous. In photographs, however, Degas did continue to use the il tient tant d'ordinaire, entre le personnage et l'interieur."
motive expressively; see L. Hoctin, "Degas photographe," L'Oeil 149. Lemoisne, nos. 320, 321, and 323; all dated there 1873.
65 (May i960) pp. 36-43, especially the photograph of himself I50. E. Zola, MadeleineFerat (Paris, I928 [first ed. I868]) pp.
and Bartholome on p. 41. I88 and 220-22I. Degas's painting is Lemoisne, no. 348; dated
I46. L. Venturi, Cezanne,son art, son oeuvre(Paris, I936) nos. there about 1874, but more likely about I869. For its dependence
494, 496, 706, and 707. G. Wildenstein, Gauguin (Paris, I964) on this text, see J. Adhemar in Emile Zola, Bibliotheque Nationale,
especially nos. I83, 375, and 604, but also nos. 174, 287, 377, 380, Paris, I952, no. 114. However, the three pictures shown in the
etc. For examples in earlier art, see note 3, above. background of Le Viol do not correspond to the prints described
147. Cataloguedes tableaux. .. collectionEdgar Degas, no. 31. Ac- by Zola.
cording to Paul Poujaud's letters to Marcel Guerin, in Degas, 15I. See Reff, "Degas's Copies," pp. 250-256 and the memoir
Lettres,pp. 253 and 255, it was one of Degas's favorites. For other by Thiebault-Sisson cited there, p. 252, note 3I. According to
interiors of the Romantic period, see Eitner, "The Open Window Fevre, Mon oncleDegas, pp. 52-53, Degas was able to reproduce a
and the Storm-Tossed Boat," pp. 285-287 and figs. 5-8. Corot so well that his colleagues took it for the original.

I64
a portrait of an artist (Tissot, Rouart); to introduce a of Helene Rouart, and the imitation of a Yeishi color
humorous marginal comment, in a portrait of a friend woodcut in that of Tissot. And as we have seen, the
(Pilet); or to reinforce a compositional element, in a influence of oriental art is also present in the design of
portrait whose subject alone is important (Martelli). the background in The Collector of Prints, the compo-
Whether copied or invented, however, the picture or sition of the portrait of Pilet, and the figural type used
object in the background always seems appropriate for in that of Mary Cassatt.154
the person portrayed, and sometimes actually belongs Iconographically, too, the works of art copied or
to him (the Bellellis, The Print Collector) or to his fami- invented by Degas reveal a preference, and under-
ly (Therese Morbilli, Helene Rouart).152 Nevertheless, standably it is for portraiture: in addition to Perron-
in most of these examples and in a few others (The neau's Bust of a Woman, a copy of Cranach's Frederick
Banker, Mary Cassatt), the particular work of art the Wise, and his own portrait drawing of his father,
seems also to be chosen because of Degas's own interest we find among them the realistically rendered heads
in it, his taste agreeing with or even superseding that of on the Etruscan sarcophagus and that tour de force of
his subject, although this may appear so partly because miniature group portraiture, the reunion of musicians
much more is known about his artistic affinities in and writers shown in the lithograph behind Pilet.
general. In the period between I86o and I890, when Degas
Whatever the reasons for their choice, the mere painted the pictures within his pictures, many other
presence in Degas's paintings of works as varied as artistsalso took up this theme; in fact, the years around
Egyptian and Etruscan sculptures, Chinese and Japa- I885 in France have in this respect been compared in
nese fabrics, Renaissance and Rococo portraits, Ro- importance with those around I66o in Holland and
mantic and Impressionistlandscapes, Neoclassical and Spain.155 The Delacroix sketch in Renoir's portrait of
Victorian prints, is evidence of a responsivenessto art Victor Chocquet, the Japanese prints in Van Gogh's
of almost every type and style which is in itself charac- portrait of Pere Tanguy, and the Cezanne still life in
teristic of him.153 Within this extraordinary diversity, Gauguin's portrait of Marie Derrien all are familiar
however, certain preferencescan be observed; notably examples of this motive.156 So, too, on a larger scale,
for nineteenth-century and for Far Eastern art. To the are the Delacroix self-portraitin Fantin-Latour's hom-
former group belong not only the landscapes and genre age to him, the Impressionistlandscapes and figures in
scenes by (or apparently by) his colleagues Michel- Bazille's picture of his studio, and the fragment of La
Levy, Tissot, and Rouart, which are perhaps inevitable Grande Jatte in Seurat's painting, The Models.157Less
in portraits that show them in their studios, but also familiar, but particularly relevant here, are the works
those by Corot, Millet, and Palizzi, which represent by Degas himself which appear in other examples: the
less externally conditioned choices, and also the flower fan decorated with Spanish dancers in Berthe Morisot's
prints by Redoute, the steeplechase print after Herring, Two Sisters on a Sofa, the pastel of a dancer adjusting
and the imitation of a musical print designed by Degas her slipper in Gauguin's Still Life with Peonies, and
himself. To the group of Far Eastern works belong the the paintings of ballerinas and jockeys in Renoir's
T'ang figurine and Japanese embroideries in The Col- Portrait of Yvonne and Christine Lerolle.158
lector of Prints, the Ch'ing silk hanging in the portrait As we have seen, however, the device of the picture

I52. See also the studies for a portrait of Mme Rouart and 157. Illustrated in Hofmann, The Earthly Paradise, pl. 178
Helene which Degas planned in I884, where the figures contem- (Fantin-Latour);Rewald, Impressionism, p. 235 (Bazille); and
plate a Tanagra statuette in their collection; Boggs, Portraitsby Rewald, Post-Impressionism, p. 107 (Seurat). See also Corot's
Degas, pp. 67-68 and pls. I22-123. Studio,which is contemporarywith, and compositionallysimilar
I53. See Reff, "Addenda on Degas's Copies," p. 320, and P. to, Degas'sportraitof Tissot;illustratedin Hofmann,pl. vi.
Valery, Degas dansedessin(Paris, I938) pp. 40-45. I58. See M.-L. Bataille and G. Wildenstein,BertheMorisot
I54. For additional examples, some more convincing than (Paris, I96I) no. 19 (the fan is Lemoisne, no. 173); Wildenstein,
others, see Shinoda, Degas, derEinzug desJapanischen,passim. Gauguin,no. I31 (the pastel is Lemoisne, no. 699); and Collection
155. Chastel, "Le tableau dans le tableau," pp. 26-27. JeanWalter-Paul-Guillaume,
Orangeriedes Tuileries,Paris, I966,
I56. Illustrated in Rewald, Impressionism,p. 355 (Renoir); no. 31 (the paintings are Lemoisne, nos. 486 and 702).
Rewald, Post-Impressionism from van Gogh to Gauguin(New York,
I956) p. 47 (van Gogh); and ibid., p. 309 (Gauguin).

I65
has a unique significance for Degas, who employs it FREQUENTLY CITED
more often and on the whole more ingeniously than his SOURCES
colleagues, and not only in subjects whose imagery
seems to require them. Quite apart from its icono- Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, Dc. 327d, rdserve,Carnets de
graphic function in portraits of artists, critics, and col- Degas, 28 vols. Cited as: B. N., Carnet, with the present
lectors, the picture is for Degas a motive of purely notebook number.
visual fascination; like the mirror, the doorway, and J. S. Boggs, Portraitsby Degas (Berkeley and Los Angeles,
I962).
the window, it is a means of playing on the artificial and E. Degas, Lettres,ed. M. Gu6rin (Paris, I945).
the natural in the art of making pictures. Ultimately, L. Delteil, EdgarDegas (Lepeintre-graveurillustre,IX) (Paris,
it is this endless fascination with the pictorial as such I919). Cited as: Delteil, with the catalogue number.
that enables him to create images of such remarkable P.-A. Lemoisne, Degaset sonoeuvre,4 vols. (Paris, I946-1949).
Cited as: Lemoisne, with the catalogue number; and Le-
subtlety and complexity as The Collector of Prints,
moisne, I, for the text. Note: the present location of a work
The Banker, and the Portrait of James Tissot in the
has been given only where it differsfrom the one recorded
Metropolitan Museum.159 by Lemoisne.
T. Reff, "New Light on Degas's Copies," BurlingtonMaga-
159. I am indebtedto the ownersof manyof the worksillustrat-
zine io6 (1964) pp. 250-259.
ed here for sendingme photographsof them, and particularlyto
the following,for arrangingto have detail photographsmade: T. Reff, "The Chronology of Degas's Notebooks," Burlington
Mme Helene Adhemarof the Museedu Louvre,Mlle M. Minet Magazine107 (1965) pp. 6o6-6i6.
of the CollectionDavid-Weill,Mr. Peter Gimpelof GimpelFils, rev. ed. (New York,
J. Rewald, The Historyof Impressionism,
Ltd, and Mr. ClausVirch of the MetropolitanMuseum. I961).

i66
NOTES

Two EtruscanBronze Statuettes

BRIAN F. COOK
AssociateCuratorof GreekandRomanArt, The MetropolitanMuseum
of Art

INCREASING knowledge of the arts of ancient Italy to think that anything of superior quality must there-
makes it necessary from time to time to reassessthe use fore be of Greek workmanship.1This criterion survived
of the term "Etruscan" and to consider whether or not into the twentieth century, and its use may be observed
its application to certain objects-and even to whole in the older descriptionsof many of the Etruscanobjects
classesof objects-can be justified. The term was at one in the Museum. Thus several bronze statuettes former-
time applied almost indiscriminately to anything exca- ly exhibited as Greek have been seen to show specifical-
vated in Italy that was not obviously Greek or Roman, ly Etruscan traits and have been transferred to the
and this included the terracotta vases found in Etruria gallery of Etruscanart, one of the recent migrants being
and other parts of Italy. Shortly after the middle of the the bronze centaur given to the Museum in 1917 by J.
eighteenth century it was argued from the Greek in- Pierpont Morgan.2
scriptions on some red-figured vases that they were It happens less frequently that objects formerly
made by Greeks and not by Etruscans. Some of those thought to be of the Roman Imperial period are shown
prejudiced by misplaced patriotism or commercial to be of Etruscan manufacture and therefore several
considerations continued to claim Etruscan manu- centuries earlier in date. Such was the case with a
facture for some Greek vases as late as the early nine- group of bronze statuettes from Nemi that appeared
teenth century, but as the body of available material on the London art market in I9o8.3 They allegedly
became larger and better known, and after excavations came from one of the Roman ships that were at that
were undertaken in Greece itself as well as in Italy, the time still submerged in the Lake of Nemi, and they
Greek origin of many vases became established beyond were therefore dated in the reign of Caligula (A.D. 37-
dispute. In the nineteenth century the tendency arose 4i).4 This dating was supported by the conjecture that

i. M. Pallottino, Etruscologia5th ed. (Milan, I963) p. 298. For desdeutschen

Nemi," Mitteilungen Instituts,Rimische
archaologischen
a detailed account of the changing usage of "Etruscan" as applied Abteilung67 (I960) pp. 34 if. They were first published by S.
to vases, see the chapter "The History of the Study of Vase-Paint- Reinach, "Bronzesdu Lac de Nemi," RevueArch6ologique
4th
ing" in R. M. Cook, GreekPaintedPottery(London, X96o) pp. 288 ff. series, 14 (1909) pp. 176 ff., pls. 11-I2.
2. Dietrich von Bothmer, "The Case of the Morgan Centaur," 4. For the date of the Nemi ships,see F. Barnabei,Notiziedegli
Archaeology20 (I967) pp. 221-222. Scavi I895, pp. 36I ff.; G. Ucelli, Le Navi di Nemi 2nd ed. (Rome,
3. Sybille Haynes, "The Bronze Priests and Priestesses from 1950) especially pp. 337 ff.

I67

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 wp

FIGURES I-3
Bronze statuette of a priest, Etruscan, ii century B.C. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund,
16. I 74.5

a particularly large and fine statuette of a woman agreement that the statuettes are Etruscan and to be
represented Caligula's sister Drusilla.5 Later scholars, dated in the second century B.C.6
finding it impossible to accept the statuettes as Imperi- The two bronze statuettes that are published here
al, urged a Republican date, and there is now general for the first time were acquired for the Museum in

5. The statuette, perhaps a priestess, is now in the British Mu- pp. 366-367, no. 367). The resemblance in drapery and stance
seum (I920.6-12. ; S. Haynes, RM 67 [1960] pp. 36-37, no. i). between this statue and the bronze from Nemi is rather superficial.
The identification as Drusilla was made in the IllustratedLondon
News of January i, 19 o, pp. 6 and I I, and in Spink and Son's 6. For a detailed discussion of the chronology, see S. Haynes,
IllustratedCatalogueof a Selectionof Antiquesand Objetsd'Art (London RM 67 (1960) pp. 41-45. The earliest examples of the type from a
n.d., but apparently issued in the latter part of I910, not 1911I as dated context are those from the votive deposit at Cars6li, dated in
suggested by Bothmer and Vermeule, AmericanJournalof Archae- the third century by the coins and pottery, Antonio Cederna, NSc
ology6o [ 1956] p. 339) p. 5 , where we read: "This view is strength- 1951, pp. I69 if., cf. S. Haynes, op. cit. p. 42 and Emeline Richard-
ened by the fact that the dress of the figure is curiously similar to son, The Etruscans(Chicago and London, I964) pp. 157 if. Mrs.
that of the famous marble statue of Drusilla at Munich, and the Richardson has pointed out to me that the relatively low quality
attitude of both figures is almost identical." No marble statue of of the Cars6olibronzes seems to imply that prototypes of a higher
Drusilla, however, exists at Munich (for portraits of Drusilla see quality were already in existence before the end of the third cen-
J. J. Bernoulli, R6mischeIkonographieII, i [Berlin and Stuttgart, tury: perhaps some of the statuettes now known should be dated
i886] pp. 324 ff.), and the statue in question must be that of"Livie earlier than Mrs. Haynes suggests. J. G. Szilagyi, AnnalesMusei
Drusille Auguste" published by Clarac, Musee de SculptureAntique DebreceniensisdeF. Deri nominati1957, p. 5 I, also urges a late fourth-
et ModerneV (Paris, I85I) p. 216, no. 2380, pl. 935, whence S. or third-century date for the origin of the type, pointing out that
Reinach, Ripertoirede la StatuaireGrecqueet RomaineI (Paris, I897) the phialai held by these statuettes are usually decorated with a
p. 573. The caption on the plate reads "Drusille" and the names star pattern reminiscent of that on some plates of the Genucilia
given in the text are apparently derived from Clarac's garbled Group, for which see J. D. Beazley, EtruscanVase-Painting(I947)
version of the ancient inscription on the plinth: AVGVS TAE IVLIAE pp. I75 ff. and M. A. Del Chiaro, "The Genucilia Group,"
DRVSIE. The correct reading, however, is AVGVSTAE IVLIAE DRVSI - Universityof CaliforniaPublicationsin ClassicalArchaeology3 (I957)
F, and the statue is actually of Livia (A. Furtwangler, Beschreibung pp. 243-372. (I am indebted to Dr. Szilagyi for a reprint of his
derGlyptothek KonigLudwig'sI zu Munchen,2nd ed. [Munich, 1910] article.)

i68
 FIGURES 4-6
Bronze statuette of a priest, Etruscan, ii century B.C. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund,
I 6.174.4

I 9 6, when the Nemi bronzes were already known but the hand. The youth stands with his weight on the left
before it became clear that they were Etruscan. One leg; the right leg is bent at the knee and the foot is drawn
of them is of the same type as the priests from Nemi, back, the ball of the foot resting on the ground. His
and it is not surprising that they were described as head is turned slightly to the right and is crowned by a
Roman on the few occasions when they were referred wreath with seven large pointed leaves. His only gar-
to in print.7 They were also exhibited with the Roman ment is a mantle draped rather loosely around the
bronzes until I964, but they were transferred to the right side of the body, with one end hanging forward
Etruscan gallery after professorsBlanche R. Brown and over the left shoulder and the other end thrown across
HansJucker had independently pointed out the incor- the left forearm. The curved hem of the garment,
rect classification on the labels. which can be seen both behind and in front of the left
leg, shows that this is the tebenna,the typically Etruscan
i. Acc. no. I6.174.5; Figures I-3; height 24.8 cm. male dress, distinguished by its semicircularshape from
(9% in.). the rectangular Greek himation.Represented in Etrus-
Youthful priest of the Nemi type with a pyxis in his can art from archaic times, it is the direct ancestor of
left hand. The right arm is missing fromjust below the the Roman toga.8Like most of the figures of this type,
shoulder, but was doubtless extended with a phiale in the youth is barefoot.

7. MMA Fiftieth AnniversaryExhibition(New York, I920) p. 3. translate toga. He points out, however, that the word does not
The MetropolitanMuseumof Art Bulletin I5 (1920) p. o09; id. i6 seem to be Greek, and it has therefore been conjectured that it may
(192 ) pp. 14 and 38, notes 2-3. G. M. A. Richter, Handbookof the be a loan-word from the Etruscan. Plutarch, Romulusxxvi.2, gives
ClassicalCollection(New York, I 927) pp. 310 and 314. the word as TrlPe6vvosbut the feminine form is attested by a
8. The word -rnP'Evvais preserved by Dionysios of Halicarnas- second-century inventory of the Aphrodision on Delos, Inscriptions
sus, RomanAntiquitiesIII.lxi. I, as the word used by the Greeks to de Delos (Paris, I935) 1442.B.34; see Liddell and Scott, Greek-

I69
 This statuette should be added to the list compiled the absence of pyxis and wreath. The closest parallel
by Mrs. Haynes of those of the Nemi type "for which known to me is a headless statuette of a youth in
any artistic merit can be claimed,"9 and like them may Florence, which has an Etruscan inscription in two
be dated in the second century B.C. lines on the garment at the front.10 Its right arm is
missing fromjust above the elbow, and in the left hand
2. Acc. no. I6. 74.4; Figures 4-6; height 29.5 cm. is an object of irregularshape that appears to be a liver.
(i i% in.). The tebenna,however, is almost identical, fold for fold,
Youth pouring a libation. Like the Nemi priests he with that of the New York statuette. Smaller bronze
wears no tunic, but his tebennais draped high around statuettes of youths wearing the tebennain a similar
his torso, leaving only the right shoulder and breast fashion have been found at Carsoli1land Nemi.12The
bare. The stance is very similar to the last: weight on Carsoli example was found in a third-century context,
the left leg, right leg bent at the knee and foot drawn and the slender proportions of the New York statuette
back; the feet bare; the body twisted to bring the right suggest that it can hardly be earlier than this in date.
shoulder forward, the right arm extended forward and The bland expression and the arrangement of the hair
to the right, bent at the elbow; in the right hand, a in large tufts, reminiscent of the hair-style of the Nemi
phiale tilted forward for the libation. The left arm is priests, invite comparison with larger sculptures of the
held close to the body beneath the tebenna,but the hand third to second century, such as the "Paris" and
points away from the body, palm forward, fingers and "Minerva" from Arezzo.13 Its close similarity to the
thumb extended. The head is turned slightly to the inscribed examples leaves no doubt of the Etruscan
right; the hair is bound with a fillet. origin of the New York statuette, and together with the
This statuette is distinguished from those of the Nemi stylistic considerations points to a date in the second
type by the manner in which the tebennais worn and by century B.C.

EnglishLexicon,ed. by StuartJones and McKenzie (Oxford, I925- etruschee etrusco-latine

in monumenti
chesi conservano
nell'I. e R. Galleria
I940) s.v. T-rpEVVa; cf. M. Pallottino, Etruscologiap. 335 and degli Uffizi (Florence, 1858) pp. I78 if. and pl. 57, no. I99; A.
Emeline Richardson, The Etruscanspp. 67 and io6. For earlier Fabretti, CorpusInscriptionum Italicarum(Turin, i867) no. 256, pl.
statuettes wearing the toga, see Emeline Richardson, "The 23; W. Corssen, Ueberdie SprachederEtruskerI (Leipzig, 1874) pp.
Etruscan Origins of Early Roman Sculpture," Memoirs of the 643 ff.; CorpusInscriptionum Etruscarum2627 (q.v. for other early
AmericanAcademyin Rome21 (I953) pp. I0-122. On the manly literature); E. Lattes, "Saggio di un indice lessicale etrusco,"
custom of wearing the toga without a tunic, see Aulus Gellius SocietaR. di Napoli, MemoriedellaR. Accademiadi Archeologia,Lettere
VI.xii.3. e Belli Arti i (19I I) p. 67 s.v. alitle; id., "Appunti per l'indice les-
9. RM 67 (1960) p. 41. Add also two bronze statuettes, a priest sicale etrusco," R. IstitutoLombardo di Scienzee Lettere,Rendiconti2nd
and a priestess, formerly owned by the late Capt. E. G. Spencer- series, 45 (1912) p. 357 s.v. eit; G. Buonamici, Epigrafiaetrusca
Churchill: Cat. ChristieJune 21-23, I965 (NorthwickParkCollection) (Florence, 1932) p. 70 and note 12.
nos. 50o6and 507, pl. 71, reputed to have been among "seven I I. Antonio Cederna, NSc 1951, pp. 169 ff., especially p. 191,
figures dredged up from Lake Nemi, circa I907, from Caligula's fig. 8, no. 7 and p. 192, note 2. To the list of parallels there noted,
barge." The priest appeared earlier in Spink and Son's Illustrated add: (i) Villa Giulia 24473, height about I6 cm., right hand
Catalogue(I 9I o) pp. 52 if., no. 535, fig. 58, where it was said to have extended but empty, left hand as New York I6.174.4, Etruscan
been found with the priestess now London 1920.6-I2.1. Neither inscription on the front of the garment. (2) Villa Giulia 2449I,
of the Spencer-Churchill bronzes, however, was among the seven height about 9 cm. (3) Berlin, height 14.2 cm.
statuettes published along with the London priestess by Reinach,
I2. A. Della Seta, Museo di Villa Giulia (Rome, I918) p. 227,
RA 4th series, 14 (1909) pls. 1 I-I2.
no. 6770. NSc 195I, p. 192, note 2. Height about 7.5 cm.; in the
Io. Museo Archeologico inv. 13004, formerly in the Uffizi,
found at Paterno di Valombrosa in 183 1. L. A. Milani, I1R. Museo right hand, a phiale; in the left, a rounded object, perhaps a liver.
Archeologicodi Firenze (Florence, I912) I, p. 141, no. 141. H. I3. "Paris," Florence inv. 87669. NSc I920, pp. 206-207, no. 6,
Dragendorff, "Rappresentazione di un aruspice sopra un vaso pl. 3. G. Q.Giglioli, L'ArteEtrusca(Milan, 1935) pl. 378, figs. I-2.
aretino," Studi Etruschi2 (1928) p. I8x and note 5, pl. 38, 3-4. "Minerva," Florence inv. 87708. NSc 1920, p. 207, no. 7, pl. 4.
For the inscription see also: Conte Giancarlo Conestabile, Iscrizioni Giglioli, ibid., fig. 4.

170
 Three Berry Mourners
BELLA BESSARD
of MedievalArt, The MetropolitanMuseumof Art
ClawsonMills Fellow,Department

THE ICONOGRAPHY of French medieval tombs pro- among families, it was natural for the deceased to be
gressed from the simple tomb slabs of the early Middle surrounded not only by members of the clergy but also
Ages to the complex symbolic monuments of the Ren- by his family and allies. The mournersso carved around
aissance. Along with the evolution of funeral rites and the base of the tomb represent the most important
feudal society, the traditional formula was greatly personages who participate in the funeral procession.
enriched by the fifteenth-century artists. On top of the Not until the beginning of the fifteenth century, with
sarcophagus was represented a realistic effigy of the Sluter and his followers, was such an iconography with
dead, life-size. On the sides, in high relief and on a gisant and procession of mourners in an architectural
smaller scale, appeared figures under a series of arches. setting definitely established with the two famous
Because of their costume-a large coat similar to the monuments ordered by the dukes of Burgundy, Philip
cowl-they were believed to be monks. Actually, the the Bold and John the Fearless (Figure i). Charles I of
width of the mourning dress and the shape of the hood Bourbon, son-in-law of the latter, immediately adopted
differ from that of the monastic gown. the formula for his own tomb in Souvigny, as did Jean
Only a few, in fact, are ecclesiastics placed there for de France, Duke of Berry, in Bourges, to be followed
their part in performing the funeral rites of the church. afterward by nobility, clergy, and bourgeoisie. The
The other figures can be identified as relatives and al- older type of tomb slab did not disappear entirely be-
lies of the deceased. Because of the system of medieval cause not everybody could afford such a monument
society, one of political and economic dependence with an elaborate cortege.

FIGURE I

Tomb of John the Fearless

and Marguerite de Baviere,
1371-1419, by Jean de la i
Huerta and Antoine le
Moiturier. From the
Chartreuse de Champmol. _ E!
Musee des Beaux-Arts,
Dijon . .

I7I

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

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 t;t

.;
.... . The Metropolitan Museum of Art owns a French
..
'
!;' .:.'- sculpture of a limestone mourner from a similar tomb
v. ''4^-(Figure 2) datable about the middle of the fifteenth
i-^
%:^"^'century.1
"-l The piece, formerly in the Georges Hoent-
schel collection, was lent to the Museum byJ. Pierpont
Morgan in I907 and given in I916. This mourner is
' '
'
,. ',, :represented as a standing, middle-aged man with
crossed arms. His head, covered by a hood, is slightly
-*:-"inclined
^^Bh^'BB^^...; to the left. Over his dress he wears a coat
fastened with one button.
In comparing this sculpture to the statues of Claus
",ji. \i , *-?^ de Werve for Philip the Bold's tomb (1342-1404) or of
j. " ' . ..
jr .... those ofJean de la Huerta and Antoine le Moiturier for
:,tag.-,,^ * , : the tomb of John the Fearless (I37 -I419), both now
* ' '
.r - ..^}
H4 in the Dijon museum, Joseph Breck2 concluded that in
iSit'
!6', to9M its style it belonged to the Burgundian school. How-
vf '. ,,^"1
- i4 < ever, the typical characteristics of this style, a powerful
X..P +; v
'iand
^ energetic realism in the expression of the features
-"_jtjp -- .'* . .
....... ? and in the abundant, deeply carved folds of the robe,
$
I?St'~j'^^
\. are not found in our mourner. Yet the wide shoulders
iff't ^(E~ j \ ~ ^** *: and the heavy fall of the coat reveal a Burgundian
influence.
!-3' t 5 All French art at the time was more or less affected
'g-- m ; by the school of Sluter, but nearly everywhere there
g
d-:f.
r
developed variations on his major inniovations. Jean,
Duke of Berry, vied with the Burgundian dukes for
jj1 " tc..
i^,; ^political and artistic domination. Although the iconog-
raphy and architecture of his tomb3 were inspired by
' stk
L^^^E
JJL B^ \^, :the ones in Dijon, the style of the recumbent effigy and
I of the mourners is quite different. Even during the
i:!
e: second period of construction, under King Charles
[-'
~1 :j .
iiK ;... .'.. 4i
A VIII, when Burgundian influence is most evident in
:/W.
'^
~~: /.' S iconography and style, this influence is nevertheless
softened by the Berry tradition. Instead of a dramatic
,r1,-': - 8j ?
effect, the emphasis is now upon individual features
and on sober treatment of the drapery. It is these very

I. Acc. no. I6.32.I73; H. 15% in. (39 cm.) limestone.

1^ s, - ;v*;'
2. Joseph Breck, The Metropolitan
Museumof Art, Catalogue
of
Romanesque,Gothicand Renaissancesculpture(New York, I933) p.
' ,x 132; Andre Perate and Gaston Briere, CollectionsGeorgesHoentschel
tt1^;i
t
* _-- (Paris, I9I8) I, p. 4.
3. Recumbent effigy, sculptor Jean de Cambrai, Cathedral of
Bourges; mourners, first campaign, 1405-1416, Jean de Cambrai,
FIGURE 2 marble, second campaign, I453-I457, Etienne Bobillet and Paul
Mourner from Berry, xv century. Limestone. The Mosselman, alabaster; these mourners are dispersed among mu-
eums (two in The Metropolitan Museum of Art) and private col-
Metropolitan Museum of Art, gift of J. Pierpont
lections; see Alfred de Champeaux and Paul Gauchery, Les travaux
Morgan, I6.32.173 d'artexecutespourJean deFranceducde Berry(Paris, I894).

172
FIGURE 4
Detail of a mourner from the tomb ofJean, Duke
of Berry, I405-I416. Marble. H. (total) I5% in.
(39 cm.). Collection of Denys Cochin, Paris - : '
(photo: Marc Vaux)

FIGURE 3
Mourner from the tomb of Jean, Duke of Berry, '
I405-I416. Marble. H. I5%in. (39 cm.). Collec-
tion of Denys Cochin, Paris (photo: Marc Vaux)

:'
. ::-.elements that we find in our mourner, although
X I, ..executed by a less skilled hand.
Without any doubt, the sculptor of the Metropolitan
^ -Museum's
t^. figure was familiar with the work of the
artistic center of Bourges. The mourners of the tomb
-
i. l i ?. of the Duke of Berry4 and our statue are the same
/\ .''
| I ii l size, and they have common stylistic details (Fig-

^B[ ^*i Wl^~. -. and the square chin are very closely related. The backs
X ^^B
ii.- ^'.4 the sculptures are carved similarly. Though still of
iof
X m~a
0J^IB f thick cloth, the drapery now falls in graceful and even
-, '': u .:: masses, and the hood is less bulky than in the Dijon
*mourners.
XI~~~~
^^Ht~~
2~|^ Again the effect ofthe Burgundian influence,
^^1-|~
H^t ~[~ &apparent _~ in our statue in the heavy folds around the
B^;:0f
^^| ^|-f /^~~arms and the base, is lessened by the flatter and less
:.- .
. ?;.i. Ivoluminous. ,'... drapery of the central areas of the coat.
_?
SdetQuite
...... evidently, the serenity of the Berry style pre-
dominates here rather than the amplitude of the
ther
Burgundian.
^^^^^^| T^s~~~~ J.In Berry few examples of tombs with mourners are
...... X:; -*: i _ left intact. Two statues of mourners, however, still exist

L* B
*~-!:4.
_~^ * ^'t Pierre Pradel, "Nouveaux documents sur le tombeau deJean
_.i ma sde Berry, frere de Charles V," FondationEugenePiot, Monumentset
Mbnoires49 ( 957) pp. i4 ff.

I73
 FIGURES 5, 6
Mourners from Pruniers (Indre), xv century. Limestone (photo: Musees de Bourges)

I74
in the church of Pruniers5 about thirty-four miles that they are from the same tomb. Their relation to
southwest of Bourges (Figures 5, 6). Their attribution the mourners of the tomb of the Duke of Berry, which
to the Berry school, considering their location and was completed in I457 by Etienne Bobillet and Paul
style, is obvious. The similarities between our mourner Mosselman, allows us to place them after this date.
and those of the Bourges tomb are equally true of those The two mourners at Pruniers were not originally
at Pruniers. In addition, there is the harsh vertical in the church but were brought there by their former
modeling of their folds, which is typical of Berry dra- owner, the late Abbe Rabier. Unlike our sculpture,
pery. The two mourners of Pruniers hold a rosary in both their backs and bases are crudely cut from the
their right hands. One of them is exactly in the same original background. In explaining this mutilation, it
position as one of the mourners from the tomb of the would help us to know if the Abbe Rabier was the first
Duke of Berry (Figures 6, 7).6 With his left hand, in a
gesture of sorrow, he supports his head, partially
covered by a hood. The other mourner shows his whole
face and places his left hand on his heart.
These two limestone mourners are most likely com-
panion pieces to our mourner. Even though the lower
parts of the statues at Pruniers are missing, their origi-
nal height can be calculated easily. They had the same
dimensions as our piece. Their similarity is borne out
by closer examination of individual details, which are
uniform in scale on all three figures. The rough carving
is scored with chisel marks cut along parallel lines.
Moreover the resemblances in quality and style be-
tween the figures are obvious. The three short-necked
men have rounded shoulders and the same corpulence.
The folds of their coats, gathered at the elbows, fall in
an equal distribution of folds and planes before ending
in a large hem.
The same treatment of the faces is even more
convincing. The modeling of the noses and the deep-
set eyes underlined by pouches are identical. In our
sculpture, and in that at Pruniers of the mourner hold-
ing a rosary on his hip, deep wrinkles in the hollow
cheeks indicate advanced age, and the large curved
lips, slightly opened, an expression of grief. The
numerous points of similarity, both in style and in
technique, among these sculptures virtually prove their
execution to be by a single artist, and suggest as well

5. Pruniers (Indre), near Issoudun; mourner holding a rosary

at his side, H. 133/4 in. (35 cm.), W. 5'2 in. (I4 cm.); mourner
holding a rosary directly in front of him, H. 33/8 in. (34 cm.), W.
5 1/l in. (I4.5 cm.); see Solange Pajot, "La sculpture en Berry a la
fin du Moyen Age et au debut de la Renaissance," Mdmoiresde la FIGURE 7
SocietedesAntiquairesdu Centre48 (I938- 941) pp. 88 ff. Mourner from the tomb of Jean, Duke of Berry,
6. Museum of Bourges; see Paul Gauchery, "Renseignements 1453-I457, by Etienne Bobillet and Paul Mos-
complementaires sur la vie et les travaux de Jean de France duc selman. Alabaster. H. I5% in. (39 cm.). Palais
de Berry d'apres des documents nouveaux," Memoiresde la Societe
des Antiquaires du Centre 40 (I 92 1) pp. 195 ff. Jacques Coeur, Bourges (photo: Giraudon)

I75
 person to acquire them after the destruction of the the church. The authorized guide of the region by
monument and if these pieces were given to him or Buhot de Kersers, published in i875,10 makes no men-
purchased from a nearby secularized church. Accord- tion of these sculptures, and it is therefore presumable
ing to tradition, they came from a tomb at Neuvy- that they disappeared between the time of Dumoutet's
Saint-Sepulcre (Indre) about thirty-three miles south- notations and this book. Dumoutet was in charge of
west of Pruniers. But the inventory of the area estab- restoring historical monuments in Berry and collected
lished by Miss Solange Pajot in I938 shows that no numerous medieval objects of art. Possibly, the three
tombs existed there. On the other hand, notes by Jules mourners figured among the works he himself acquired
Dumoutet, an architect of the nineteenth century before they became part of the collections of the Abbe
famous for the drawings he left of the monuments of Rabier and of Hoentschel.
Berry, mentions a tomb with mourners in the church No further information could be obtained from the
of Les Aix-d'Angillon (Cher)7 about eight miles north- archives of Bourges where the notes and the drawings
east of Bourges. He said: "In the pavement . . . [are of Dumoutet are deposited. And from the papers of the
left] remains of the front face of a fifteenth century Abbe Rabier, which are partly kept in the church of
tomb, this monument is pierced with small niches which Pruniers, nothing was learned concerning the acqui-
contain mourners very richly (skillfully) draped."8 sition of the two mourners. It is hoped that more
Miss Pajot, who checked Dumoutet's writings, adds evidence will appear in the future to establish as a fact
that the dimensions of these mourners were identical the suggested provenance of Les Aix-d'Angillon for the
with the ones at Pruniers and their appearance little three mourners. If three pieces were left from a funeral
different from the latter. Moreover the width of the monument, others may have been saved from destruc-
niches, according to Dumoutet, was 8'h/i inches (22 tion as well. We might then be able to imagine this
cm.), just the right size for these mourners. Thus, it tomb more completely. Yet the discovery of a secondary
may well be that our mourner and the two now in the workshop around Bourges under the influence of the
church at Pruniers came from this tomb. master artists of the Duke of Berry is an important step
During the fourteenth and the fifteenth centuries, the toward this aim.
seigniory of Les Aix-d'Angillon belonged first to the
Sully family and then to the Albret family.9 Their home
was in La Chapelle-d'Angillon, northeast of Les Aix in ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
the castle of Bethune, which they renovated, and their I wish to express my gratitude for their courtesy to Miss
sepulchre was in the nearby Cistercian monastery of Solange Pajot of the Caisse Nationale des Monuments Histo-
Loroy. Considering the quality of our sculpture, it is in riques in Paris and to Mr. Jean Faviere, Curatorof the Musee
fact easy to surmise that the original tomb was not du Berryin Bourges. I am also indebted to Mr. Denys Cochin
ordered by a wealthy family. More likely, our mourner for allowing me to publish the two mourners from his col-
lection, to Mr. Jean Feray, Inspecteur des Monuments His-
and the two at Pruniers were part of a tomb ordered by
toriques, and to Mr. Jean Lenny, Chief Librarian of the
a canon or a prior, since the church of Les Aix was a Bibliotheque Municipale in Bourgesfor their valuable infor-
collegiate church. No traces of the tomb are now left in mation.

7. Francois Deshoulieres, "Les Aix-d'Angillon," CongresAr- abritent des pleureurs tres richement (savamment) drapes."
deFrance94 (1931) pp.
cheologique 291 ff. Bibliotheque de la ville de Bourges, mss. 444 and 445.
9. Gaspard de la Thaumassiere, Histoiredu Berry(Paris, I689).
8. "Dans le dallage . . . les restes de la face d'un tombeau du i o. Alphonse Buhot de Kersers, StatistiqueMonumentaledu de-
XVeme siecle, ce monument est perce de petits habitacles qui partementdu Cher,Canton des Aix-d'Angillon (Paris, I875).