Italian - "Albarello" with a Shepherdess Lifting Her Skirt - Walters 4...
An "albarello" is a cylindrical jar that takes its shape from imported Islamic pottery. It belongs to a larger group of wares with predominantly erotic motifs that have initial "B" or "B°" on the back. The init... More
Italian - "Antique" Cameo with the Bust of Julius Caesar - Walters 422...
Julius Caesar (101-44 BC) was honored as an icon of Roman military might and rule. This cameo could have been made as an individual object or as one of the Twelve Caesars. The artist took advantage of the laye... More
Italian - "Borghese Warrior" - Walters 54675
This statuette is a reduced copy of the so-called "Borghese Warrior."
Italian - "Cassone" - Walters 6534
A "cassone" (large chest) was a common piece of furniture during the Renaissance, particularly in Tuscany. The front is ornamented with fantastic floral and grotesque motifs.
Italian - "Cassone" - Walters 6535
Anonymous (Italian). '"Cassone",' 16th century. walnut. Walters Art Museum (65.35): Gift of Mr. Robert Lehman through French and Company, 1943.
Italian - "Papal" Ring - Walters 54434 - Profile
Rings of this type mostly date from the 15th and 16th centuries and are decorated with papal arms, mitres, crossed keys, and other ecclesiastical symbols. Their name is somewhat misleading, as it is unlikely th... More
Italian - "Tazza" with St John the Baptist and a Bacchanalia - Walters...
The "tazza" bowl is decorated in high relief in the Italian late 16th-century style with bacchanalia scenes (showing a procession of followers of Bacchus, the Roman wine god). Scholars remain divided as to whet... More
Italian - "Torchère" with Acanthus Leaves and Clawed Feet - Walters 65...
A "torchère" is a tall, ornamental candlestick.
Italian - A Franciscan Monk Preaching - Walters 37507
Anonymous (Italian). 'Franciscan Monk Preaching,' 1500-1525. oil on panel. Walters Art Museum (37.507): Acquired by Henry Walters with the Massarenti Collection in 1902.
Italian - A Meeting Scene - Walters 44262
A king, whose crown lies on the grass, welcomes a young man who kneels at his feet, his hands joined in an imploring gesture. Behind him, a helmeted guard holds a lance. The meeting takes place before an arch o... More
Italian - Achilles Among the Daughters of Lycomedes - Walters 37573
Anonymous (Italian). 'Achilles Among the Daughters of Lycomedes,' 18th century. oil on canvas. Walters Art Museum (37.573): Acquired by Henry Walters with the Massarenti Collection, 1902.
Italian - Anatomical Figure of a Man - Walters 5430
By the 1600s, artists who specialized in figural compositions were increasingly aware of the need to understand the structure of muscles in order to portray movement effectively. Some artists, most famously Le... More
Italian - Anatomical Figure of a Man - Walters 5476
Anonymous (Italian) ?. 'Anatomical Figure of a Man,' ca. 1550-1600. bronze. Walters Art Museum (54.76): Acquired by Henry Walters.
Italian - Apollino - Walters 541691 - View A
The original ancient marble statue, depicting the Greco-Roman sun god, is called the Apollino (little Apollo) or Medici Apollo, and is now in the Uffizi Museum in Florence. Probably an adaptation of a work by t... More
Italian - Archangel Gabriel from an Annunciation - Walters 27205
Anonymous (Italian). 'Archangel Gabriel from an Annunciation,' 14th century. Sandstone. Walters Art Museum (27.205): Acquired by Henry Walters with the Massarenti Collection, 1902.
Italian - Archer's Sallet - Walters 51466 - Three Quarter
A sallet is a light, semi-open helmet popular in the 15th century. Its rounded skullpiece was sometimes fitted with a visor, although this is not true of those used by archers, who weren't normally involved in... More
Italian - Armor for the Duke of Medina Sidonia - Walters 51585 - Detai...
This armor is engraved all over with a design based on an M, signifying the duchy of Medina Sidonia. It was made for Don Alonso Perez de Guzman el Bueno, duke of Medina Sidonia (1550-1615). Extremely rich, he w... More
Italian - Armor for the Duke of Medina Sidonia - Walters 51585
This armor is engraved all over with a design based on an M, signifying the duchy of Medina Sidonia. It was made for Don Alonso Perez de Guzman el Bueno, duke of Medina Sidonia (1550-1615). Extremely rich, he w... More
Italian - Battle Scene - Walters 37499
After Piero della Francesca (Italian, ca. 1415-1492). 'Battle Scene,' 16th century. oil on panel. Walters Art Museum (37.499): Acquired by Henry Walters with the Massarenti Collection, 1902.
Italian - Boar Hunt in Spring - Walters 4321 - Top
Micromosaics crafted from miniature glass tesserae (mosaic tiles) decorated paperweights, boxes, and brooches, which were popular as tourist art and "souvenir jewelry." The Vatican workshops were largely respon... More
Italian - Boar Hunt in Spring - Walters 4321
Micromosaics crafted from miniature glass tesserae (mosaic tiles) decorated paperweights, boxes, and brooches, which were popular as tourist art and "souvenir jewelry." The Vatican workshops were largely respon... More
Italian - Body of a Goblet Vase - Walters 44180
The bowl-shaped body is embossed with fourteen gadroons, alternating white and green on blue ground. The blue rim made to receive the cover is concave. The surface is ornamented with gilt scrolls, leaves and fl... More
Italian - Border of Brocatelle with Adoration of the Christ Child - Wa...
This type of textile is known as a Florentine repeat border fabric: woven in long strips, then cut and sewn on vestments. There is a similar piece in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Italian - Bowl - Walters 44203 - Detail A
The upper part of the bowl is embossed in relief with eighteen flutes, decorated with floral scrolls in gilding on a white ground. The rim and the intervals between the flutes are blue, with floral ornaments in... More
Italian - Bowl - Walters 44203 - Detail B
The upper part of the bowl is embossed in relief with eighteen flutes, decorated with floral scrolls in gilding on a white ground. The rim and the intervals between the flutes are blue, with floral ornaments in... More
Italian - Bowl - Walters 44203 - Detail C
The upper part of the bowl is embossed in relief with eighteen flutes, decorated with floral scrolls in gilding on a white ground. The rim and the intervals between the flutes are blue, with floral ornaments in... More
Italian - Bowl - Walters 44203
The upper part of the bowl is embossed in relief with eighteen flutes, decorated with floral scrolls in gilding on a white ground. The rim and the intervals between the flutes are blue, with floral ornaments in... More
Italian - Box with Lion, Dog, and Duck Mosaic - Walters 4332
Mounted on a round box, the obverse with a lion, and the reverse with a dog and duck.
Italian - Bracelet - Walters 41269
Cameos in raised relief of the Olympic gods. The seven gods depicted are the gods of the planets in correct order to their relationship to the seven days of the week. From left to right they are: Diana the moon... More
Italian - Brooch with a Landscape Scene - Walters 4346
Micromosaics crafted from miniature glass tesserae (mosaic tiles) decorated paperweights, boxes, and brooches, which were popular as tourist art and "souvenir jewelry." The Vatican workshops were largely respon... More
Italian - Brooch with Cameo of Spring - Walters 57854
This personification of spring is based on a lost marble relief carved by William H. Rinehart in about 1855.
Italian - Brooch with the Head of a Bacchante - Walters 41257
Anonymous (Italian). 'Brooch with the Head of a Bacchante,' 1840-1870. lava cameo with gold frame. Walters Art Museum (41.257): Gift of Mrs. Sara D. Redmond, 1979.
Italian - Bust of a Man Form the Antique Marble Known as Head of Diome...
This cast bronze is after a marble head in the British Museum, a Roman copy of Pergamene Gaul, found in Italy in 1771 and formerly in the Towneley Collection.
Italian - Bust of a Saint - Walters 54735 - Back
Reliquary busts contained body parts of the saints represented. In this bust, the relics were originally placed in compartments underneath the "jewel" (glass over foil) decorating the clasps that fastens the sa... More
Italian - Bust of a Saint - Walters 54735 - Three Quarter View A
Reliquary busts contained body parts of the saints represented. In this bust, the relics were originally placed in compartments underneath the "jewel" (glass over foil) decorating the clasps that fastens the sa... More
Italian - Bust of a Saint - Walters 54735
Reliquary busts contained body parts of the saints represented. In this bust, the relics were originally placed in compartments underneath the "jewel" (glass over foil) decorating the clasps that fastens the sa... More
Italian - Cameo Portrait of a Wreathed Lady - Walters 421222
Carved in relief, with a later gold mount.
Italian - Cameo Portrait of the Roman Emperor Tiberius - Walters 42116...
Carved in relief, with a modern gold mount.
Italian - Cameo with a Bearded Satyr - Walters 421403 - Side B
Anonymous (Italian). 'Cameo with a Bearded Satyr,' ca. 1550. amethyst, repouss� and moulded gold. Walters Art Museum (42.1403): Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Nelson Gutman, 1943.
Italian - Cameo with a Bearded Satyr - Walters 421403
Anonymous (Italian). 'Cameo with a Bearded Satyr,' ca. 1550. amethyst, repouss� and moulded gold. Walters Art Museum (42.1403): Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Nelson Gutman, 1943.
Italian - Cameo with Bust of a Hohenstaufen Emperor - Walters 421428
Engraved gems were one of the tools through which Frederick promoted his artistic agenda and he appears as the subject of this cameo crafted at his court. The motif of the bust of an emperor in military dress, ... More
Italian - Cameo with Hercules and Omphale - Walters 421057 - View A
With a later gold mount (as a ring).
Italian - Candlestick with Decorative Motifs - Walters 4434
At the base of the pricket is a gadrooned grease-pan. It is enameled inside in white, outside in white-and-blue and green-on-white with gilt ornament. It rests on a blue globe with green stars, which is support... More
Italian - Capital with Four Masks and Acanthus Leaves - Walters 27204
Carved column with ram's head, foliage and masks.
Italian - Cardinal Mazarin Riding To Villafranca with the Treaty of Pe...
Anonymous (Italian). 'Cardinal Mazarin Riding To Villafranca with the Treaty of Peace,' 18th century. oil on copper. Walters Art Museum (37.1161): Acquired by Henry Walters with the Massarenti Collection, 1902.
Italian - Cassone with the Coat of Arms of the Spreta Family - Walters...
This "cassone" (large chest) is elaborately decorated with mythological figures, including reclining river gods holding bountiful cornucopias (horns of plenty) on the front panel. The large carved coat of arms ... More
Italian - Chair - Walters 6513 - Three Quarter
The carved decoration known as "linen fold" is typical for the period and indeed looks like folded light-weight cloth. The knobs at the sides can be turned to release the back panel so that it can swing down to... More
Italian - Chair - Walters 6513
The carved decoration known as "linen fold" is typical for the period and indeed looks like folded light-weight cloth. The knobs at the sides can be turned to release the back panel so that it can swing down to... More
Italian - Chalice - Walters 44225
The coat of arms on the base on this chalice has not been identified. By marking such objects with their family symbol and donating them to churches, patrons hoped to be remembered in the prayers of the priests... More
Italian - Chalice - Walters 44463
Enamels with bust-length figures of sainted bishops appear on the cup. Depictions of Christ as the Man of Sorrows (Christ with the wounds of his Passion), the Virgin, and John the Evangelist are on the base. Th... More
Italian - Chamfron - Walters 511368
Horses also needed protection from the enemy's weapons. By the mid-1400s, armorers had devised a near-complete set of armor to protect the steed in battle. Together these formed a bard. The head was covered by ... More
Italian - Christ in the Tomb - Walters 44125
This copper gilt pax is set with a rectangular plaque of copper enameled with a representation of the Pieta. In the scene, the dead body of Christ is supported in half-upright position in the tomb by the Virgin... More
Italian - Coffer - Walters 71310
This ivory object, along with Walters 71.308 and Walters 71.314 were created by Muslim craftsmen, probably working in Palermo, Sicily, for the Christian court of the Norman rulers (11th-13th century) and were i... More
Italian - Coin Box - Walters 7310
This coin box once belonged to Duke Cosimo I de' Medici (1519-74) and his wife, Eleonora da Toledo (1522-62). The coat of arms of the ducal couple can be seen on the lid of the box. Perhaps this luxurious objec... More
Italian - Colossal Head in the Guise of Hercules - Walters 27533 - Thr...
This large marble head, possibly from an over-life-sized sculpture of Hercules, was excavated near the Florence baptistery and adapted and partly recarved to fit a medieval sculpture. Differences in the drill m... More
Italian - Column with a Lion at the Base - Walters 27381
These decorative columns probably came from a ciborium or pulpit. The capital is a stylized version of an antique capital, many of which were re-used in a somewhat earlier period. The inlaid glass and stone fra... More
Italian - Comb with Lady Love and a Hunting Scene - Walters 7178 - Bac...
The comb is carved on either side in two sunken panels between the teeth; about three-quarters of each scene is preserved. On one side Lady Love sits enthroned, presenting mantled helms to kneeling knights. The... More
Italian - Comb with Lady Love and a Hunting Scene - Walters 7178
The comb is carved on either side in two sunken panels between the teeth; about three-quarters of each scene is preserved. On one side Lady Love sits enthroned, presenting mantled helms to kneeling knights. The... More
Italian - Cover for an Incense Burner - Walters 5447
This cover and its pair Walters 54.48, each with three nude young women--possibly the Three Graces--leaning against an urn, were for incense burners. The perfumed smoke was released through holes piercing the a... More
Italian - Cover for an Incense Burner - Walters 5448
This cover and its pair Walters 54.47, each with three nude young women--possibly the Three Graces--leaning against an urn, were for incense burners. The perfumed smoke was released through holes piercing the a... More
Italian - Crozier Head with the Eagle of Saint John - Walters 71300 - ...
This crosier, possibly made in Sicily in the thirteenth century, is made of ivory with a depiction of an eagle set inside the crook. The curve of the crook is marked with small leaves or tendrils, reminiscent o... More
Italian - Crozier Head with the Eagle of Saint John - Walters 71300 - ...
This crosier, possibly made in Sicily in the thirteenth century, is made of ivory with a depiction of an eagle set inside the crook. The curve of the crook is marked with small leaves or tendrils, reminiscent o... More
Italian - Crozier Head with the Eagle of Saint John - Walters 71300 - ...
This crosier, possibly made in Sicily in the thirteenth century, is made of ivory with a depiction of an eagle set inside the crook. The curve of the crook is marked with small leaves or tendrils, reminiscent o... More
Italian - Crozier Head with the Eagle of Saint John - Walters 71300 - ...
This crosier, possibly made in Sicily in the thirteenth century, is made of ivory with a depiction of an eagle set inside the crook. The curve of the crook is marked with small leaves or tendrils, reminiscent o... More
Italian - Crozier Head with the Eagle of Saint John - Walters 71300 - ...
This crosier, possibly made in Sicily in the thirteenth century, is made of ivory with a depiction of an eagle set inside the crook. The curve of the crook is marked with small leaves or tendrils, reminiscent o... More
Italian - Crucifix - Walters 71421
The body of Christ is mounted by three nails to a modern Cross. His head is turned to the right and tilted backward. Christ is shown at the moment of death; his mouth is gaping, and his eyes are directly upward... More
Italian - Crucifix with Mourning Virgin and St John the Evangelist - W...
This massive crucifix probably hung above the main altar of a church at the juncture between the nave and the sanctuary; the work presents a haunting figure of Christ. Christ's head falls forward while the sway... More
Italian - Cruet with Figure of a Woman on Handle - Walters 4195
This artfully crafted cruet, along with its mate, Walters 41.95, have a sun and a moon on the lids, human heads growing out of the fancifully shaped handles, and only very discrete engraving on the body of the... More
Italian - Cruet with Figure on Handle - Walters 4194
This artfully crafted cruet, along with its mate, Walters 41.95, have a sun and a moon on the lids, human heads growing out of the fancifully shaped handles, and only very discrete engraving on the body of the... More
Italian - Curiosity Figure (Seed Man) - Walters 7526
This is a rare example of a kind of bizarre composite figure that achieved popularity around 1600, especially in Milan. The most famous exponent was Guiseppe Arcimboldo (1527-1593), whose painted portraits comb... More
Italian - Cylindrical Box (Pyxis) - Walters 71311
This ivory box is decorated with roundels and drinking figures and bears an inscription in Naskh.
Italian - Cylindrical Box or Pyxis - Walters 71308
This ivory object, along with Walters 71.310 and Walters 71.314 were created by Muslim craftsmen, probably working in Palermo, Sicily, for the Christian court of the Norman rulers (11th-13th century) and were i... More
Italian - Dagger for the Left Hand - Walters 51517
This dagger has a short, pointed, double-edged blade. It was attached to the sword belt and worn on the right hip with the sword on the left. Following the new tactics in swordsmanship of the late 1500s, the da... More
Italian - Devotional Plaque with Christ as the Man of Sorrows - Walter...
The Man of Sorrows- the image of the dead Christ miraculously standing- is meant to call to mind various moments in the Passion cycle. Here it provides an emotional focus for private devotion. The ornamental f... More
Italian - Devotional Plaque with Saint Jerome in the Wilderness - Walt...
St. Jerome, the translator of the Bible into Latin, was often depicted as a hermit in his wilderness retreat, engaged in meditations on the cross. This exquisitely subtle example of reverse painting wonderfull... More
Italian - Devotional Plaque with the Madonna of the Fish - Walters 541...
This composition reproduces a famous painting of the Virgin and Child by Raphael (1483-1520) known as the Madonna of the Fish (now in the Prado Museum, Madrid, Spain), which was widely known from engravings mad... More
Italian - Diptych with Virgin and Angels and Crucifixion - Walters 711...
This roughly carved diptych presents its subjects beneath large single trefoil arches with crockets and heavy pinnacles. The Virgin and Child of the left leaf are flanked by candle-bearing angels. The crucified... More
Italian - Diptych with Virgin and Angels and Crucifixion - Walters 711...
This roughly carved diptych presents its subjects beneath large single trefoil arches with crockets and heavy pinnacles. The Virgin and Child of the left leaf are flanked by candle-bearing angels. The crucified... More
Italian - Dish on a Low Foot with an Ornamental Design - Walters 48135...
This dish on a low foot is painted in grey-green monochrome heightened with white on a dark blue ground ornamented with ribbon-scrolls in reserve. It has a yellow rim. In the center, a winged cherub-head is sur... More
Italian - Dish on Foot with the Sacrifice of Noah - Walters 481341
This dish depicts "The Sacrifice of Noah," after Raphael, probably from a drawing engraved by Marco Dente da Ravenna. It is painted in blue, copper-green, yellow, ochre, brown, blue-black and opaque white. The ... More
Italian - Dish with a Classical Bust - Walters 481508
This dish is painted in blue, ochre, yellow, and copper-green. The marli, in ochre, is decorated with paired cornucopias alternating with a footed cup. The motifs are joined together by foliated bands terminati... More
Italian - Dish with a Roman Emperor in Profile - Walters 481321
This dish is painted in gold lustre and in blue with a scale-pattern around the rim. In the center is the left profile bust of an unidentified Roman Emperor wearing a laurel wreath and facing a scroll inscribed... More
Italian - Dish with Castor and Pollux Rescuing Helen - Walters 481328
The inscription on the back of the plate identifies the subject: "il rapimento/ delena," or the Rape (abduction) of Helen. When a young girl, Helen was said to have been kidnapped by Theseus as a potential brid... More
Italian - Dish with Coat of Arms of Bishop Baglioni - Walters 481336
The arms painted in gold-colored luster and cobalt blue and held by the griffin in the center are those of Ercole Baglioni, the bishop of Orvieto. This dish is presumably from a maiolica service commissioned fo... More
Italian - Dish with Diana and Her Nymphs Bathing - Walters 481316
The moon-goddess Diana was accompanied by a group of chaste nymphs. Seated under an elaborate fountain, the goddess, attended to by two of her followers, can be recognized by the crescent moon on her head. The ... More
Italian - Dish with Diana and Nymphs Bathing - Walters 481340
In an episode from Ovid's "The Metamorphoses," the hunter Actaeon, lost in the woods, stumbles upon a clearing where he sees the chaste goddess of the hunt Diana bathing with her nymphs. Mortals were not permit... More
Italian - Dish with Female Bust and Inscription - Walters 481351
The inscription translates "I entrust myself to you." The sharp profile, derived from Roman coins, was a favored format for portraiture during the 15th century.
Italian - Dish with Foliage Design - Walters 481367
Anonymous (Italian). 'Dish with Foliage Design,' ca. 1525-1530. earthenware with tin glaze (maiolica) and luster decoration. Walters Art Museum (48.1367): Acquired by Henry Walters.
Italian - Dish with King Candaules Exhibiting His Wife Nyssia to Gyges...
The subject is taken from the ancient historian Herodotus, who describes how King Candaules of Lydia caused his own downfall by letting Gyges see his wife, Queen Nyssia, naked. Although she did not let Candaule... More
Italian - Dish with Mary Magdalene - Walters 481319
Depicting Mary Magdalene, identified by the ointment jar she cared to the tomb to anoint Christ's dead body, was a way of introducing the image of a beautiful, sexually attractive woman while still being able t... More
Italian - Dish with Roman Profile Head - Walters 481317
A popular decorative technique in Faenza was called "berettino;" these wares have a light or dark blue tin-glaze base coat with white and other color decoration. This "berettino" dish, painted with a wide decor... More
Italian - Dish with Symbols of Christ's Passion - Walters 4174
The oval disk depicts angels holding the symbols of Christ's Passion, including the column to which he was tied, whips, nails, hammer, and the Crown of Thorns. The plate was most likely used to support an alta... More
Italian - Dish with the "Beautiful Camilla" - Walters 481358
Represented in three-quarter profile, the idealized portrait of a young woman with fine features and narrow lips has been painted according to Renaissance ideals of female beauty. The scroll surrounding her rea... More
Italian - Dish with the Adoration of the Shepherds - Walters 481487
This scene is taken directly from an engraving after a composition by one of the great Italian masters of design, Francesco Mazzola, known as Parmigianino (1503-40). His compositions were admired for their vari... More
Italian - Door Panel with an Interlace Design - Walters 541057 - Back
This is one of seventy-two plaques from the large bronze door of the monastic church of San Clemente a Casáuria, in southern Italy. They were commissioned by Joel, abbot from 1182 to 1191. This panel bears an i... More
Italian - Door Panel with an Interlace Design - Walters 541057
This is one of seventy-two plaques from the large bronze door of the monastic church of San Clemente a Casáuria, in southern Italy. They were commissioned by Joel, abbot from 1182 to 1191. This panel bears an i... More
Italian - Door Panel with Castle - Walters 541058 - Back
When Abbot Joel (r. 1182-1191) commissioned the door for the main entrance to the church of San Clemente at Casauria in Abruzzi, he may have chosen bronze because of the medium's association with the legal trad... More
Italian - Door Panel with Castle - Walters 541058
When Abbot Joel (r. 1182-1191) commissioned the door for the main entrance to the church of San Clemente at Casauria in Abruzzi, he may have chosen bronze because of the medium's association with the legal trad... More
Italian - Doorknocker with Neptune - Walters 543
In Venice, with its great port, the Roman god Neptune, ruler of the oceans, was a popular motif for the decoration of everyday objects as well as elegant statuettes. The symmetrical, undulating forms of this kn... More