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Pendant with the Virgin and Child
circle of Godefroid de Huy (Netherlandish)
c. 1160–1170
- Medium
- gilded copper, champlevé enamel; the reverse decorated in vernis brun
- Classification
- Enamel
- Dimensions
- Overall: 19.8 x 17 x 3.2 cm (7 13/16 x 6 11/16 x 1 1/4 in.)
- Culture
- Mosan, Meuse Valley, Romanesque period, 12th century
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Medieval Art
- Credit line
- Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
This pendant was made in the Rhine-Meuse region—now in modern Belgium—renowned for the production of fine metalwork objects, especially enamels. An enamel plaque depicting the enthroned Virgin and Christ child dominates the pendant. Four peripheral enamels depict angelic figures representing virtues: Humility, Virginity, Piety, and Mercy, each identified by an inscription. The pendant may have been made to serve as a reliquary to house a consecrated host. The refined craftsmanship and costly materials fittingly honor these sacred remains.
