The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of September 21, 2023

Prayer Nut with Scenes from the Life of St. James the Greater

c. 1500–1530

Adam Dircksz

(Netherlandish, active c. 1500)

and Workshop

Northern Netherlands

(Holland)

Boxwood

Overall: 5.8 x 4.8 cm (2 5/16 x 1 7/8 in.)

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1961.87

Location

112 Northern Renaissance

Fun Fact

This miniature masterpiece was held and caressed within the palm of the holder as they prayed and meditated on their faith. What do you use to focus or engage in quiet concentration?

Description

Prayer nuts or "paternosters" are generally made from boxwood and carved with extreme refinement and delicacy with openwork Gothic tracery. They came into fashion as private devotional accessories in the Netherlands in about 1500 to 1530. About 50 prayer nuts are still known to survive.

Inscriptions

Inscription

Interior around lower half: SANCTVS SACRILEGI STAT IVDICIS ANTE TRIBVNAL (Holiness stands before the throne of the profane judge)

Inscription

Interior, around upper half: GAVDENS PRO CRISTO IACOBVS SVBDIT CAPVT ENSI (St James submits his head to the sword)

Citations
Scholten, Frits, ed., Small Wonders: Late-Gothic Boxwood Micro-Carvings from the Low Countries. Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum Publications Department, 2016. Reproduced: p. [29] fig. 16; pp. [230-231], cat. 34; Mentioned: p 28, 617, 636
Exhibition history

Year in Review (1961). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 1-26, 1961).

Small Wonders: Gothic Boxwood Miniatures. Art Gallery of Ontario, Ontario M5T 1G4, Canada (organizer) (November 5, 2016-January 22, 2017); The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (February 15-May 15, 2017).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1961.87