The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of December 18, 2025
Prayer Nut with Scenes from the Life of St. James the Greater
c. 1500–1530
Location: 112 Northern Renaissance
Did You Know?
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 are capsules that can be opened in half and were mainly worn from the end of the 1400s until 1530, particularly in the Netherlands. These objects are generally made from boxwood and carved with extreme refinement and delicacy. They often echo Gothic architecture and include openwork tracery or elaborate decorative patterns. Prayer nuts came into fashion for private devotion as a pendant on the rosary or on a decorative chain. The emergence of prayer nuts went hand in hand with the practice of praying the rosary more frequently at the end of the Middle Ages.- “Twelve Additions to the Medieval Treasury.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 59, no. 4 (April 1972): 87–111. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 110-111, figs. 64-66 www.jstor.orgScholten, 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
- 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).Year in Review (1961). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 1-26, 1961).
- {{cite web|title=Prayer Nut with Scenes from the Life of St. James the Greater|url=false|author=Adam Dircksz, Workshop|year=c. 1500–1530|access-date=18 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1961.87