Clockwise, from top left: Octahedral Diamond Ring, second half 3rd – early 4th century. Roman. Devotional Ring, inscribed “Hail blessed Jesus born of the Virgin Mary, my Lord and God,” 13th century. Probably British. Langobard Bishop’s Ring, 7th–8th century. Italian, Lombardy. Merovingian Architectural Ring, mid-6th century. French, Gaul. Renaissance Triumph of Love Cameo Ring, 16th century (cameo), 19th century (setting). Italian. Gold Marriage Ring, inscribed “Concord,” 6th – 7th century.” Byzantine. Inscribed Sapphire Ring, late 14th century (setting), 10th century(?) (sapphire). Italian. Cusped Ring, 15th century. North European. Renaissance Gimmel Ring with Memento Mori, dated 1631. German. Griffin Collection.
Exhibition Location: Glass Gallery, The Cloisters, Gallery 010
Worn by women and men, finger rings are among the oldest and most familiar forms of jewelry. In addition to their use as personal adornments, rings can serve as declarations of status, markers of significant life events, expressions of identity, and protective talismans. Some three dozen ancient, medieval, and later examples are shown in the exhibition
Treasures and Talismans: Rings from the Griffin Collection, that opened May 1 at The Cloisters — a branch of The Metropolitan Museum of Art devoted to the art and architecture of the Middle Ages. The collection is named after the mythical creature that was part lion and part eagle. In medieval lore, the griffin was often a guardian of treasure and was known for seeking out gold in rocks — hence its fitting use for this private collection of precious gold rings. The exhibition is made possible by the Estate of Eldridge Greenlee.
The rings are displayed alongside two dozen related works in a range of media, including paintings, illuminated manuscripts, sculpture, and goldsmith work spanning the late second-third century A.D. to the 16th century from the Metropolitan’s departments of Greek and Roman Art, European Paintings, European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, Medieval Art and The Cloisters, and the Robert Lehman Collection. The Petrus Christus painting A Goldsmith in his Shop (1449), for example, shows a goldsmith weighing a wedding ring, while raw materials for making rings and other forms of jewelry and finished products line the shelves of the shop.
A Goldsmith in His Shop, Possibly Saint Eligius, 1449; Petrus Christus (Netherlandish, active by 1444, died 1475/76). Oil on wood; Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
Exploring the making of rings from raw material to finished product and from goldsmith to owner, the exhibition highlights rings as both physical objects and works of art. The significance of rings in the lives of medieval and Renaissance people is a featured topic. Also discussed is the connection of rings to religion, superstition, love, marriage, and identity.
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