Belt with Profiles of Half-Length Figures

Unknown

ca. 1350–1400 · Basse taille enamel, silver-gilt, mounted on textile belt · Medieval Art

Extravagant girdles used to cinch the fall of clothing at the waist were often part of betrothal gifts, dowries, and counter-dowries (given by the groom). One of the stories of Boccaccio's Decameron (1349–52) included girdles, along with rings, as gifts for a new bride. Intact girdles such as this one are rare. It would have been worn under the breasts, pulled through the buckle—here in the form of a curving figure—and then hanging to the ground, its gilt details and enameling catching the light. The enamel technique known as basse taille allows the silver below to shine through the translucent enamels.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 1350–1400

Medium

Basse taille enamel, silver-gilt, mounted on textile belt

Culture

Italian

Department

Medieval Art

Credit line

Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917