The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 19, 2024
Pax with Christ Appearing to the Apostles
late 1500s
cast after a model by Valerio Belli
(Italian, c. 1468–1546)
Overall: 21.2 x 15.2 x 6.5 cm (8 3/8 x 6 x 2 9/16 in.)
Bequest of John L. Severance 1942.631
Location: not on view
Description
A pax is a tablet depicting a sacred subject that a priest held out to be kissed during the Mass. The scene on this tablet is of Christ preaching to ten apostles. The image is by an unknown artist who based it on a plaquette by the gem engraver and medalist Valerio Belli (1468–1546) and demonstrates an awareness of linear perspective and scale conventions common in Renaissance Italy. The triumphal arch seen behind the figures, for example, contains coffering and Corinthian capitals that have been present in Italian art since the early 1400s. The arch itself is supported by columns in order to reveal the landscape behind it. The foliage seen at the top of the arch and at the figures' feet, however, is not present in the Belli and suggests the stylistic influence of northern Europe. The plaquette's gilding may have been intended to create painterly effects on a low-relief metal surface. The work is encased inside an ebony frame. The wood used for the frame—and the three putti heads it contains—suggests origins in southern Germany, possibly Nuremberg or Augsburg. The frame is also decorated with vine and floral patterns, which could originate in either medieval tapestries or northern European manuscripts.- John L. Severance, upon his death, held in trust by the estate.Estate of John L. Severance, by bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1942.
- Catalogue of the John L. Severance Collection: Bequest of John L. Severance, 1936. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1942. Mentioned: p. 46, cat. no. 98 archive.org
- Master Goldsmiths of the Renaissance: Their Models and Designs. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 2, 1982-March 20, 1983).Art and Humanism in the Renaissance. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 23-February 25, 1962).Exhibition of the John L. Severance Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (November 12, 1942-March 14, 1943).
- {{cite web|title=Pax with Christ Appearing to the Apostles|url=false|author=Valerio Belli|year=late 1500s|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1942.631