Monumental Urn

Unknown

ca. 1650 · Imperial porphyry · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

This monumental Imperial porphyry urn is likely to be the pair to an identical urn (with its lid) formerly in the Spanish Royal Collection, now preserved at the Prado. King Philip IV of Spain, who acquired the urn now at the Prado, was a keen collector of porphyry. His grandson Louis XIV clearly inherited this passion, forming the most significant collection of porphyry objects in Early Modern Europe. The King of France, who compared himself to the rulers of Ancient Rome was well aware of the symbolism associated with Imperial Egyptian porphyry. The use the ‘purple stone’ was tightly controlled by Roman emperors and therefore closely connected to their divine power. Porphyry is also an extremely hard stone, which means that only very skilled sculptors could work on it.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 1650

Medium

Imperial porphyry

Culture

Italian, Rome

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Bequest of Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, 2019