Lord Arundel's Collections

Ancient Roman Gemcutter
Diomedes and Odysseus (the Felix Gem)
1st century AD
sardonyx intaglio
(formerly in the Arundel Collection)
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

In the 1460s Pope Paul II owned the Felix Gem.  His inventory rated it as the most valuable object he possessed.  In time it passed to the Gonzaga court where Andrea Mantegna is known to have studied and copied the figures.  Late in the 1630s a dealer named Daniel Nys came to London and offered King Charles a rich "cabinet of gems" said to derive from the Gonzaga collection and including the Felix Gem.  Charles balked at the price, but Lord Arundel did not.  He reportedly paid £10,000 for this group of 263 cameos and intaglios, both ancient and modern.  Difficult as it is to compare money-values across centuries, several sources estimate that in the early 17th century £1 had the buying power of at least $100 today.  By that measure Arundel's purchase-price for the gems in modern currency works out tidily to about $1,000,000.  

Ancient Greek Gemcutter
Satyr with Grapes
2nd century BC
garnet intaglio
(formerly in the Arundel Collection)
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Ancient Roman Gemcutter
Augustus
AD 41-54
sardonyx cameo
(formerly in the Arundel Collection)
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Ancient Roman Gemcutter
Cupids erecting a Trophy
1st century BC
onyx cameo
(formerly in the Arundel Collection)
Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Ancient Roman Gemcutter
Bust of Apollo
1st century BC - 1st century AD
sardonyx cameo
(formerly in the Arundel Collection)
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Ancient Roman Gemcutter
Head of Cicero
50 BC 
carnelian intaglio
(formerly in the Arundel Collection)
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Anonymous Italian Gemcutter
Death of Meleager
late 16th century
shell cameo
(formerly in the Arundel Collection)
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Ancient Roman Gemcutter
Young Satyr supporting Silenus
1st century BC - 1st century AD
sardonyx cameo
(formerly in the Arundel Collection)
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Ancient Roman Gemcutter
Hermaphroditus
1st century BC
sardonyx cameo
(formerly in the Arundel Collection)
Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Ancient Roman Gemcutter
Woman and Child
1st century BC
sardonyx cameo
(formerly in the Arundel Collection)
Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Ancient Roman Gemcutter
Aurora driving Chariot
1st century BC - 1st century AD
sardonyx cameo
(formerly in the Arundel Collection)
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Anonymous European Gemcutter
One of the Horae
early 17th century
carnelian intaglio
(formerly in the Arundel Collection)
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Anonymous Italian Gemcutter
Germanicus and Agrippina
early 17th century
onyx cameo
(formerly in the Arundel Collection)
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Anonymous Italian Gemcutter
Marcus Aurelius and Faustina
early 17th century
onyx cameo
(formerly in the Arundel Collection)
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Anonymous Italian Gemcutter
Two Satyrs and Cupid
16th century
carnelian intaglio
(formerly in the Arundel Collection)
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Ancient Roman Gemcutter
Wedding of Cupid and Psyche
50-25 BC
onyx cameo
(formerly in the Arundel Collection)
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Bernard Picart
Antique Gem with The Marriage of Cupid and Psyche
(formerly in the Arundel Collection, as noted on the engraving)
1719
engraving
Philadelphia Museum of Art

 

Gilt

Francesco Mochi
Defeated Heretic
ca. 1625
gilt bronze
Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia

Francesco Mochi
Defeated Heretic
ca. 1625
gilt bronze
Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia

Hans Ludwig Kienle
Horse and Rider
1630
silver and silver gilt
Art Institute of Chicago

Anonymous French Makers
Keyhole Escutcheon
ca. 1740
gilt bronze
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Anonymous French Makers
Keyhole Escutcheon with Griffins
ca. 1800-1810
gilt bronze
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Anonymous French Makers
Goddess pouring from Ewer
ca. 1805
gilt bronze furniture mount
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Anonymous French Makers
Antique Figure walking into Wind
ca. 1810
gilt bronze furniture mount
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Anonymous French Makers
Winged Goddess
ca. 1810
gilt bronze furniture mount
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Anonymous French Makers
Charioteer
ca. 1815
gilt bronze furniture mount
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Paul Storr
Ceremonial Cup with Cover
1834
silver gilt
Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto

Jean-Léon Gérôme
Napoleon entering Cairo
ca. 1900
gilt bronze and wood statuette
Art Institute of Chicago

Raymond Duchamp-Villon
Very Small Horse
1914
gilt bronze
Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Paul Manship
Actaeon
1925
gilt bronze
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Paul Manship
Eurydice
ca. 1930
gilt bronze on lapis lazuli base
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC

Marcel Bouraine
Lamp with Undersea Motif
ca. 1930
gilt bronze and onyx
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Alberto Giacometti
Small Standing Woman
ca. 1945
gilt bronze
Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas

Louise Bourgeois
Untitled (Fingers)
1986
bronze (partly gilt)
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC

The Oracles

'Tis mute, the word they went to hear on high Dodona mountain

    When winds were in the oakenshaws and all the cauldrons tolled,

And mute's the midland navel-stone beside the singing fountain,

    And echoes list to silence now where gods told lies of old.

I took my question to the shrine that has not ceased from speaking,

    The heart within, that tells the truth and tells it twice as plain;

And from the cave of oracles I heard the priestess shrieking

    That she and I should surely die and never live again.

Oh priestess, what you cry is clear, and sound good sense I think it;

    But let the screaming echoes rest, and froth your mouth no more.

'Tis true there's better booze than brine, but he that drowns must drink it;

    And oh, my lass, the news is news that men have heard before.

The King with half the East at heel is marched from lands of morning;

    Their fighters drink the rivers up, their shafts benight the air.

And he that stands will die for nought, and home there's no returning.

    The Spartans on the sea-wet rock sat down and combed their hair.

– A.E. Housman (1922)

Made in Pairs - IV

Gian Paolo Panini and workshop
Hermes appearing to Calypso
1718
oil on canvas
John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota

Gian Paolo Panini and workshop
Hermes rescuing Odysseus from Circe
1718
oil on canvas
John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota

Anonymous German Artist
Anatomical Model of a Woman
ca. 1600-1650
bronze statuette
Walters Art Museum, Baltimore

Anonymous German Artist
Anatomical Model of a Man
ca. 1600-1650
bronze statuette
Walters Art Museum, Baltimore

These small bronze models were in use during the 17th century by physicians, who had not yet generally adopted the practice of investigating the human body by direct observation.  Patients typically remained clothed during medical examinations, describing symptoms while indicating afflicted areas on the anatomical model.

Jan Vermeulen
Vanitas Still Life
ca. 1660
oil on canvas
Deutsche Barockgalerie, Augsburg

Jan Vermeulen
Vanitas Still Life
ca. 1660
oil on canvas
Deutsche Barockgalerie, Augsburg

Lazzaro Baldi
The Continence of Scipio
ca. 1660-61
oil on canvas
Gallerie Estense, Modena

Lazzaro Baldi
Scipio proclaims Massinissa King of Numidia
ca. 1660-61
oil on canvas
Gallerie Estense, Modena

Johann Georg Platzer
Palace Interior with Musical Company
before 1761
oil on copper
(cello player at center is self-portrait)
Národní Galerie, Prague

Johann Georg Platzer
Palace Interior with Company at Leisure
before 1761
oil on copper
Národní Galerie, Prague

Anonymous Italian Artist
Reliquary Bust of St Romulus as Virgil
ca. 1725-50
gilt bronze head, bronze socle, agate body
Gallerie Estense, Modena

Anonymous Italian Artist
Reliquary Bust of St Eustace as Hermes
ca. 1725-50
gilt bronze head, bronze socle, agate body
Gallerie Estense, Modena

Johann Evangelist Holzer
Portrait of Christian Georg von Köpf
1735
oil on canvas
Deutsche Barockgalerie, Augsburg

Johann Evangelist Holzer
Portrait of Maria Magdalena von Köpf
1735
oil on canvas
Deutsche Barockgalerie, Augsburg

Frans de Vos 
European Circus Banner - Acrobats and Clowns
ca. 1900
oil on canvas
John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota

Frans de Vos
European Circus Banner - Acrobats and Clowns
ca. 1900
oil on canvas
John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota

The Nineteenth Century and After

Though the great song return no more
There's keen delight in what we have:
The rattle of pebbles on the shore
Under the receding wave.

 – W.B. Yeats (1933)