Pendant with Virgin and Child

Unknown

early 16th century · Silver and silver gilt · The Cloisters

The design of this pendant served as the insignia for the Schwanenorden, or Order of the Swan, founded in 1443 by Friedrich II, elector of Brandenburg. Several contemporary portraits show similar pendants worn on chains around the neck with a large pearl or other ornament suspended from a loop. The image of the Virgin and Child on the crescent moon, inspired by Revelation, is similar in composition to woodcuts by Hans Baldung Grien, a protégé of Albrecht Dürer in Nuremberg.

Artist

Unknown

Date

early 16th century

Medium

Silver and silver gilt

Culture

German

Department

The Cloisters

Credit line

The Cloisters Collection, 1965