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Devotional Pendant, Oil on Aventurine, Gold, Enamel, Spain, 17th Century

About the Item

Devotional pendant or reliquary. Oil painting on aventurine, enamel, gold. Spain, 17th century. Medallion or devotional pendant or reliquary made of aventurine or aventurine with an octagonal shape and faceted fronts, enhanced with a series of enamels combining black and gold, which protect two oil paintings with a Catholic Christian religious theme, located one on each side of the piece. Protected, you can see a very particular Virgin with Child for being inspired by the Icon of the Madonna del Popolo (Rome, Italy), and a simplified Martyrdom of San Lorenzo (the saint, the grill and an angel with a crown and the palm corresponding to the subject). The edges of the piece have been protected with simple metal elements. The painting of San Lorenzo follows a common composition in the Spanish school, and would recall works such as the painting of the main altar of the Church of San Lorenzo de Huesca, for example, but also others such as the engraving by Marcantonio Raimondi (executed around 1527) in some details. The so-called icon of the Madonna del Popolo was well known for being considered as made by Saint Luke, and was brought to the church of the same denomination by Gregory IX from the Sancta Sanctorum of the Lateran Palace after a flood caused a terrible plague in the city and through a solemn procession with the image of Santa Maria del Popolo. Regarding the material of the piece, a certain type of glass and a type of quartz (which can be green or reddish-brown, and usually has tiny elements of yellow mica that give it golden reflections) is known as aventurine or aventurine. In the first case, it is known that “aventurine” or “stellaria” appears mentioned in the Murano workshops for the first time during the first quarter of the 17th century, in reference to a very complicated production paste (it is said that the name comes from of this circumstance, that is, that its creation was due to luck or luck) that imitates the effects of that stone (from India and Russia at that time) thanks to the inclusion of copper particles, and that it was used as if out of stone (cut) given the complexity of its use in blowing (practically impossible). And, dealing with this material, it is necessary to mention “The Nativity” by Pietro da Cortona, dated around 1656, which is kept in the El Prado Museum (Madrid) as it is an oil painting on aventurine or aventurine. Compare this work with the reliquary medallion with an image of the Virgin painted on aventurine dated between 1600 and 1633 in the Lázaro Galdiano Museum (Madrid); with another devotional medallion in gold and aventurine from the National Museum of Decorative Arts (Madrid) dated in the 17th-18th centuries; or with the medallion that is also a reliquary that presents an Immaculate Conception painted on aventurine, dated between the 18th and 19th centuries of the National Museum of Decorative Arts (Madrid); or with the 16th century Spanish devotional pendant from the Metropolitan Museum in New York with Saint John the Baptist and the Virgin (which combines black and white enamels, in a different way from the present piece); or with the 17th century black and white enamel and gold triangular pendant from the Don Juan de Madrid Institute of Valencia. Weight: 103 grams." Size: 9 x 0.7 x 8 cms.
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 0.28 in (7 mm)Width: 3.55 in (9 cm)Depth: 3.15 in (8 cm)
  • Style:
    Baroque (Of the Period)
  • Materials and Techniques:
  • Place of Origin:
  • Period:
  • Date of Manufacture:
    17th Century
  • Condition:
    Wear consistent with age and use. Minor losses. Minor fading.
  • Seller Location:
    Madrid, ES
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: ZF07001stDibs: LU2951321804842
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