Beads from a Rosary (early 1500s): Art, History and Details

Beads from a Rosary (early 1500s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Rosaries were devices for counting a sequence of prayers and were the proud possessions of the elite, along with their books of hours. In paintings and miniatures they are often shown looped through the belts of their owners.

Object facts

• Title: Beads from a Rosary
• Date: early 1500s
• Culture: Italy, early 16th century
• Type: Enamel
• Technique: gilt copper with champlevé enamel
• Dimensions: Average: 24.5 cm (9 5/8 in.)
• Collection: MED - Gothic
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1952.277

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• National Gallery (Great Britain), and Nicholas Penny. The Sixteenth Century Italian Paintings. London: National Gallery Co, 2004
• Jäger, Moritz. Mit Bildern beten: Bildrosenkränze, Wundenringe, Stundengebetsanhänger (1413-1600) Andachtsschmuck im Kontext spätmittelalterlicher und frühneuzeitlicher Frömmigkeit. Gießen: Universitätsbibliothek, 2012.
• Gaimster, David. Ashgate Research Companion to Material Culture in Early Modern Europe. [Place of publication not identified]: Routledge, 2016.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.