The front of the Montalto Reliquary

The Montalto Reliquary is an elaborate reliquary in gold, silver, enamel and gemstones, with a central French Late Gothic section of the 1370s added to by Italian Renaissance goldsmiths around 1460. It was given by Pope Sixtus V in 1586 to the cathedral of his home town Montalto delle Marche, in the Italian Province of Ascoli Piceno in the Le Marche region, and remains there in the Museo Sistino Vescovile, the episcopal museum.

The older, central, part of the reliquary was almost certainly made in Paris in the late 14th century for a member of the French Valois royal family, probably by the goldsmith Jean du Vivier and his workshop. It was passed around Europe as a diplomatic gift for the next two centuries, before ending up with the papacy. It is one of a handful of large survivals in the technique of enamels en ronde bosse.

Description

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The central part of the reliquary shows the standing but lifeless figure of Christ supported from behind by an angel with outspread wings. A jewelled cross stands behind them. Smaller framed scenes around show the Crucifixion of Jesus, the Flagellation of Jesus, to the left and right respectively, and the Lamentation of Christ below. There are small compartments containing wrapped and labelled relics to either side of the Lamentation. Above the shaft of the cross a small figure of God the Father is accompanied by angels.

All these elements are within a later gold frame decorated with gems and engraved plant forms. Below this is a later base in gold, including the Barbo coat of arms in black niello, which also appear three times on the back of the reliquary. The whole measures 66.5 cm high, 43 cm wide and 23 cm deep.[1]

History

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The central part of the reliquary is identifiable in an inventory of the treasures of King Charles V of France (r. 1364-1380). After passing through the ownership of the Dukes of Burgundy, it is next recorded among the possessions of Frederick IV, Duke of Austria on his death in 1439. In 1450 Leonello d'Este, Marquess of Ferrara bought it from a German merchant; he died the same year. By 1457 it belonged to the Venetian Cardinal Pietro Barbo, who was Pope Paul II from 1464 to 1471. He added the frame, back, and base, which include his Barbo coat of arms three times, surmounted by a cardinal's hat, indicating this work was done before 1464.

It remained in the Papal treasury until Pope Sixtus V presented it in 1586 to the cathedral of his home town, as a Latin inscription below the frame records:

"SIXTUS V PONT. MAX. MONTI ALTO PATRIAE CARISS. SACRAS RELIQUIAS PIETATIS SUE MONUMENTUM D.D. ANNO PONT II” (Sixtus V Pontifex Maximus gave to Montalto his most dear homeland this holy reliquary as a sign of his affection in the second year of his pontificate)[2]

In 2013 it was restored in the Opificio delle Pietre Dure (Precious Stones Workshop) in Florence, with a further period of restoration there from November 2023. This coincided with the closure of the Montalto museum after earthquake damage on 30 October 2016. The reliquary is in an excellent state of conservation, but the enamels, and their adhesion to the metal below, need careful monitoring, and some local interventions.

After the first period of work was completed it was first part of an exhibition in 2017 at the Uffizi in Florence of art from the Marche threatened by the earthquakes,[3][4] then placed on display in the Bargello in Florence for a year from September 2017, before returning to Montalto.[5] After the second restoration it was shown in the Vatican Pinacoteca from 25 June to 19 October 2024, before again returning to Montalto.[6]


Notes

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  1. ^ "Scheda Opera"
  2. ^ "Reliquiari fantastici: Il reliquiario di Montalto", by Nicoletta de Matthaeis, 9 March 2019
  3. ^ "Facciamo presto! Marche 2016-2017. Tesori salvati, tesori da salvare", Uffizi
  4. ^ "An exhibition at the Uffizi to help the Marche region", www.finestresullarte.info, 2 April 2017
  5. ^ "Il Reliquiario Di Montalto", Bargello notice via mutualart.com
  6. ^ Vatican

References

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MMA Mirror of the Medieval World file:.pdf p. 167
Museums in Modern Society


Art and architecture

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Chola bronze of Shiva as Nataraja ("Lord of Dance"), Tamil Nadu, 10th or 11th century.

India has a very ancient tradition of art, which has exchanged many influences with the rest of Eurasia, especially in the first millenium, when Buddhist art spread with Indian religions to Central, East and South-East Asia, the last also greatly influenced by Hindu art.[1] Thousands of seals from the Indus Valley Civilization have been found, usually carved with animals, but a few with human figures. The Pashupati seal is the best known.[2] After this there is a long period with virtually nothing surviving, after which almost all surviving ancient Indian art is in various forms of religious sculpture in durable materials, or coins. There there was probably originally far more in wood, which is lost. In north India Mauryan art is the first imperial movement, and the Lion Capital of Ashoka from about 250 BCE is now India's national symbol.[3] Over the following centuries a distinct Indian style of sculpting the human figure developed, with less interest in articulating precise anatomy than ancient Greek sculpture but showing smoothly-flowing forms expressing prana ("breath" or life-force).[4] This is often complicated by the need to give figures multiple arms or heads, or represent different genders on the left and right of figures, as with the Ardhanarishvara form of Shiva and Parvati.[5]

Most of the earliest large sculpture is Buddhist, either excavated from Buddhist stupas such as Sanchi, Sarnath and Amaravati,[6] or is rock-cut reliefs at sites such as Ajanta, Karla and Ellora. Hindu and Jain sites appear rather later.[7] In spite of this complex mixture of religious traditions, generally, the prevailing artistic style at any time and place has been shared by the major religious groups, and sculptors probably usually served all communities.[8] Gupta art, at its peak between about 300 CE and 500 CE, is often regarded as a classical period whose influence lingered for many centuries after; it saw a new dominance of Hindu sculpture, as at the Elephanta Caves.[9] Across the north, this became rather stiff and formulaic after about 800 CE, though rich with finely carved detail in the surrounds of statues.[10] But in the South, under the Pallava and Chola dynasties, sculpture in both stone and bronze had a sustained period of great achievement; the large bronzes with Shiva as Nataraja have become an iconic symbol of India.[11]

Ancient painting has only survived at a few sites, of which the crowded scenes of court life in the Ajanta Caves are by far the most important, but it was evidently highly developed, and is mentioned as a courtly accomplishment in Gupta times.[12] Painted manuscripts of religious texts survive from Eastern India about the 10th century onwards, most of the earliest being Buddhist and later Jain. No doubt the style of these was used in larger paintings.[13] The Persian-derived Deccan painting, starting just before the Mughal miniature, between them give the first large body of secular painting, with an emphasis on portraits, and the recording of princely pleasures and wars.[14] The style spread to Hindu courts, especially among the Rajputs, and developed a variety of styles, with the smaller courts often the most innovative, with figures such as Nihâl Chand and Nainsukh.[15] As a market developed among European residents, it was supplied by Company painting by Indian artists with considerable Western influence.[16] In the 19th century, cheap Kalighat paintings of gods and everyday life, done on paper, were urban folk art from Calcutta, which later saw the Bengal School of Art, reflecting the art colleges founded by the British, the first movement in modern Indian painting.[17]

Indian rock-cut architecture

  1. ^ Rowland, 185–198, 252, 385–466
  2. ^ Craven, 14–16; Harle, 17–18
  3. ^ Craven, 35–46; Rowland, 67–70; Harle, 22–24
  4. ^ Craven, 22, 88; Rowland, 35, 99–100
  5. ^ Craven, 18–19; Blurton, 151
  6. ^ Harle, 32–38
  7. ^ Harle, 43–55; Rowland, 113–119
  8. ^ Blurton, 10–11
  9. ^ Craven, 111–121; Michell, 44–70
  10. ^ Harle, 212–216
  11. ^ Craven, 152–160; Blurton, 225–227
  12. ^ Rowland, 242–251; Harle, 356–361
  13. ^ Harle, 361–370
  14. ^ Craven, 202–208; Harle, 372–382, 400–406
  15. ^ Craven, 222–243; Harle, 384–397, 407–420
  16. ^ Craven, 243; Michell, 210
  17. ^ Michell, 210–211; Blurton, 211
  • Blurton, T. Richard, Hindu Art, 1994, British Museum Press, ISBN 0 7141 1442 1
  • Craven, Roy C., Indian Art: A Concise History, 1987, Thames & Hudson (Praeger in USA), ISBN 0500201463
  • Harle, J.C., The Art and Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent, 2nd edn. 1994, Yale University Press Pelican History of Art, ISBN 0300062176
  • Michell, George (2000), Hindu Art and Architecture, 2000, Thames & Hudson, ISBN 0500203377
  • Rowland, Benjamin, The Art and Architecture of India: Buddhist, Hindu, Jain, 1967 (3rd edn.), Pelican History of Art, Penguin, ISBN 0140561021
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Routledge, 15 Feb 2013

http://dx.doi.org/10.1053/j.gastro.2014.01.046

2021 xmas card

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Wishing everybody a Happy Holiday Season, and all best wishes for the New Year! Adoration of the Kings (Bramantino) is my Wiki-Christmas card to all for this year. Johnbod (talk) 14:50, 22 December 2021 (UTC)