This is a round ornate brass German religious plate. The center depicts the announcement by the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary of her conception of Christ in relief. To our left is the angel Gabriel, winged and robed. He holds a staff in his left hand. To our left is the Virgin Mary, who has long hair and is wearing a long dress. She leans on an altar covered with an altar cloth. In the center is a bucket of flowers, above which is a bird flying through the air. Lettering, also in relief, reads EWISHNBI RAH. Two rows of embossed floral designs run around the other edges of the plate. The back there is a concave images of the figures that are in relief on the front.
German, Nuremberg
Plate: The Annunciation,
17th century
Brass
,
36 cm (14 3/16 in.)
Object details
Accession number
M19e33
Primary Creator
German, Nuremberg
Full title
Plate: The Annunciation
Creation Date
17th century
Provenance
Possibly purchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner from the art dealer Settimio Silli, Florence for 650 lire on 25 May 1903 through the painter Joseph Lindon Smith (1863-1950). (as a set of four brass plates and a tabernacle)
Marks
Inscribed (bottom): E W I S H N B I : R A H (repeated four times)
Dimensions
36 cm (14 3/16 in.)
Display Media
Brass
Web Commentary
Isabella Stewart Gardner kept meticulous records of many of her acquisitions. In keeping with this legacy, object information is continually being reviewed, updated, and enriched in order to give greater access to the collection.
Permanent Gallery Location
Tapestry Room
Bibliography
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), pp. 152-53. (as probably German, Nuremberg: dated 17th century)
“Notes, Records, Comments.” Gardner Museum Calendar of Events 9, no. 28 (13 Mar. 1966), p. 2. (as probably German, Nuremberg; dated 15th-17th centuries)
Rights and reproductions
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Isabella Stewart Gardner kept meticulous records of many of her acquisitions. In keeping with this legacy, object information is continually being reviewed, updated, and enriched in order to give greater access to the collection.