Fra Filippo Lippi, Coronation of the Virgin (detail), 1441-47, Tempera on wood. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.
A bit of Renaissance, for a change :) Here’s a work by Botticelli’s master.
This detail is one of my favorite because of its finesse, its delicate colours and very precise drawing. Lippi appears here as a skilled colourist, particularly in the fabrics, with rich golden silks and a beautiful transparent veil interlaced in this young girl’s hair. The character is perfectly drawn, in the typical canon Lippi invented, with a round face over a small pointy chin.
Ivory carved Pyxis of al-Mughira, 968 AD, Madinat al-Zahra, Spain.
The use of this type of object is uncertain. They could have been used as jewel/precious stones/makeup/perfumes boxes. The recipient of this pyxis was the prince al-Mughira, son of the caliph Abd al-Rahman III. - louvre.fr
This young mammoth on display in the St Petersburg Zoological Museum appears to have been preserved in a peat bog.
It exhibits the classic black, shiny, flattened form of this method of preservation in anaerobic conditions, seen most often in the very detailed remains of humans preserved in peat bogs in northern Europe. - donsmaps.com
Photo: Vladimir Gorodnjanski, 2007.
Red-figures Lucanian pottery, ca. AD 400. Museo Nazionale Archeologico, Italy.
A youthful Dionysos, seated on a rock and wearing high fur-lined boots, fancy head-dress and only a mantle over his thighs , watches a maenad dance to the pipes. Behind him a female wearing an animal skin over a long-sleeved, short-skirted dress and high boots, holds a torch over his head and a situla. A stayr, at ease, watches. - beazley.ox.ac.uk
La dame à la licorne (The Lady and The Unicorn), series of six tapestries woven in Flanders of wool and silk, late XVth century. The suite, on display in the Musée du Moyen-Âge in Paris, is often considered one of the greatest works of art of the Middle Ages in Europe.
Five of the tapestries are commonly interpreted as depicting the five senses – taste, hearing, sight, smell, and touch. The sixth displays the words “À mon seul désir” (to my only desire). The tapestry’s meaning is obscure, but has been interpreted as representing love or understanding. The one featured here is the “Sight”, in which the lady is seated, holding a mirror up in her right hand. The unicorn kneels on the ground, with his front legs in the lady’s lap, from which he gazes at his reflection in the mirror. The lion on the left holds up a pennant. - en.wikipedia.org
This work is even more incredible when seen for real in the museum, believe me.
Silver, posthumous issue Roman denarius of Marcus Aurelius (AD 161-180), struck under Commodus in AD 180. Rome, Italy.
Polychrome wooden sculpture of Saint Mary Magdalene, ca. 1515-1520 from the Church of Saint-Mary-Magdalene of Augsbourg (Germany) by Gregor ERHART (1470-1540).
Ivory liturgical comb, ca. 1200–1210, Britain.
Liturgical combs were used in preparing the priest for the Mass. Although they existed throughout the Middle Ages, this is the only comb known that is decorated with scenes from the life and martyrdom of Thomas Becket. - metmuseum.org
