Ivory Plaque with Enthroned Mother of God ("The Stroganoff Ivory")
950–1025
Byzantium, Constantinople, Byzantine period
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Small Sword Poster
In the eighteenth century, the smallsword was designed to be a light, quick weapon. Like the rapier, it was carried by unarmored noblemen. As decorative works, smallswords represent the final stage in the evolution of the sword. This poster pictures one of many on display in the Cleveland Museum of Arts Armor Gallery. Size: 36" x 24"
Riemenschneider and Late Medieval Alabaster
by Gerhard Lutz, Curator of Medieval Art, The Cleveland Museum of Art At the center of this publication is Tilman Riemenschneider’s Saint Jerome and the Lion, one of the masterpieces of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Riemenschneider’s Saint Jerome is not only one of the artist’s more important early masterpieces, it is also his only alabaster work in a collection in the USA. Said to have come from the Benedictine abbey church of Saint Peter in Erfurt, Germany, this sculpture by Tilman Riemenschneider (c. 1460–1531), dated to c. 1495, depicts the church father Saint Jerome as he removes a thorn from the paw of a lion, a legendary account of the saint’s kindness. Following the common iconography of the scene, Jerome is dressed in the traditional robes of a Roman cardinal, with the cowl draped over his tonsured head and the broad-brimmed hat on his right leg. Traces of polychromy and gilding suggest that it was once brightly colored. Drill holes in the hat further indicate that cords and tassels of fabric, typical of a cardinal’s hat, would once have decorated the sculpture. Whether the statue was originally commissioned for an altar in a private chapel or smaller space in the monastery remains unknown. Alabaster was prized for its luster and capacity for fine details from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century. The gleaming stone was used for altarpieces and small sculptures, as well as the tombs of wealthy princes. The book unites works from the medieval collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art and selected masterworks from North American museums and the Louvre in Paris, which allows insight into the characteristics of alabaster sculptures in this period. It is striking that these works are of such a particularly exquisite quality that this material was used especially for high-ranking commissions, such as the tomb of Duke Philip the Bold of Burgundy in Champmol near Dijon. The book is accompanied by several essays that examine the subject of alabaster sculpture from different perspectives. Published March 2023 180 pages with 158 images
Italian Renaissance Architecture
The architecture of the Italian Renaissance, theorized by artists such as Filippo Brunelleschi and Leon Battista Alberti, influenced styles and trends of the following centuries throughout Europe and beyond. This volume offers a comprehensive compilation of Italian Renaissnace architecture—richly documented, illustrated, arranged by region, and including a glossary. 408 pages
Myth and Mystique: Cleveland's Gothic Table Fountain
By Stephen N. Fliegel and Elina Gertsman The Cleveland Museum of Art’s medieval Table Fountain (c. 1320–40) has somehow survived nearly intact for over 700 years. A medieval automaton, the table fountain is an exquisite piece of Gothic architecture in miniature complete with parapets, vaults, arcades, and columns. Along with animal-shaped nozzles and intimate scenes in opaque enamel, the sight and sound of flowing water is also captured by water wheels and bells. An exquisite example of French metalwork, the fountain is truly a unique example of Gothic fashion and courtly taste. While little is known of its origin and history, similar fountains have been mentioned in royal inventories, but almost none have survived, leading early scholars to misunderstand its function. The third book in the museum’s Masterwork series, Myth and Mystique: Cleveland’s Gothic Table Fountain reassesses this extraordinary piece in the context of other similar luxury objects, analyzing specifically the fountain’s history, functionality, materials, and style." 164 pages Published 2016
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