The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 25, 2024

Belt for a Lady's Dress

Belt for a Lady's Dress

c. 1375–1400

Did You Know?

Look closely at the tiny scenes of courtly love on the plaques that adorn this belt. Given their size, these scenes were designed for the enjoyment of the woman who wore this belt over a sumptuous dress rather than an admirer from a distance.

Description

Because of its extraordinary richness, this belt (also known as a girdle) was both an ornament for the body and an object of great personal luxury. Almost eight feet in length, belts like this were at the height of fashion for both men and women. After being passed around the waist and through the buckle, one end of the belt would fall to the hem of the garment. The belt's many colorful enamel plaques are worked in translucent enamel over decoration engraved into the silver beneath (an enameler's technique known as basse-taille). Within the plaques and cast into the buckle are scenes of courtly love, musicians, and fantastic animals. A large number of translucent enamels were made for secular objects during the late Middle Ages--for use on jewelry, cups, garment clasps, and similar objects. This belt is a rare survival among these now scarce objects.
  • the belt belonged in the family of Prince Nicolas Mingrelsky
  • W. M. M. “Girdle of the Fourteenth Century.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 17, no. 3 (March 1930): 35–41. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 35-41 www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 58 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 58 archive.org
    Wixom, William D. “A Gothic Madonna from Lorraine.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 61, no. 10 (December 1974): 343–349. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 343-345, fig. 5 www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 68 archive.org
    Dillon, Emma. "Sensing Sound." In A Feast for the Senses: Art and Experience in Medieval Europe edited by Martina Bagnoli, Baltimore: Walters Art Museum, 2016. Reproduced: p. 108
  • The Secular Spirit: Life and Art at the End of the Middle Ages. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (March 28-June 16, 1975).
  • {{cite web|title=Belt for a Lady's Dress|url=false|author=|year=c. 1375–1400|access-date=25 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1930.742