15th-century Silver Medieval Iconographic Ring Adorned With Two Standing Saints
A prayer to wear!
"Iconographic" rings made of silveror gold and engraved with images of saints were particularly common in thelate 14th, 15th, and early 16th centuries and appear to have been anexclusively British type. Religious imagery was often paired withromantic inscriptions, suggesting that these rings might sometimes have servedas tokens of love or wedding rings. They often depict the mostvenerated saints of the Middle Ages: Saint Christopher, Saint Catherine, SaintMargaret, Saint Barbara, and Saint John the Baptist. The choice of saint waslikely dictated by local allegiances, membership in brotherhoodsdedicated to a particular saint, or the desire to invoke that saint’s help for aspecific matter. We have not yet identified the saints depicted on thepanels of this fluted setting.
Sandra Hindman, of Les Enlimures, has published a veryinteresting essay and podcast on this type of ring, highlighting their unique nature asportable prayers—more personal and intimate than other devotional objectssuch as Books of Hours, from which they draw close inspiration. With these rings,one could carry one’s Book of Hours on one’s hand with similar images. Inthis essay, she explores how these rings draw inspiration from the illustrations inEnglish Books of Hours, thereby offering their wearers access to prayerscarried on the body. Touched and rubbed time and again by theirwearers, who would then manipulate them by spinning them on their fingers andputting them on and taking them off to admire the inscriptions, these ringsenrich our understanding of the culture of prayer, its rites, andits practices in the late Middle Ages.Link to the essay to learnmore: https://www.lesenluminures.com/usr/documents/press/download_url/117/sandra-hindman-medieval-iconographic-rings.pdf
Origin: British Isles
Inner diameter ofthe ring: 18 mm.
"Iconographic" rings made of silveror gold and engraved with images of saints were particularly common in thelate 14th, 15th, and early 16th centuries and appear to have been anexclusively British type. Religious imagery was often paired withromantic inscriptions, suggesting that these rings might sometimes have servedas tokens of love or wedding rings. They often depict the mostvenerated saints of the Middle Ages: Saint Christopher, Saint Catherine, SaintMargaret, Saint Barbara, and Saint John the Baptist. The choice of saint waslikely dictated by local allegiances, membership in brotherhoodsdedicated to a particular saint, or the desire to invoke that saint’s help for aspecific matter. We have not yet identified the saints depicted on thepanels of this fluted setting.
Sandra Hindman, of Les Enlimures, has published a veryinteresting essay and podcast on this type of ring, highlighting their unique nature asportable prayers—more personal and intimate than other devotional objectssuch as Books of Hours, from which they draw close inspiration. With these rings,one could carry one’s Book of Hours on one’s hand with similar images. Inthis essay, she explores how these rings draw inspiration from the illustrations inEnglish Books of Hours, thereby offering their wearers access to prayerscarried on the body. Touched and rubbed time and again by theirwearers, who would then manipulate them by spinning them on their fingers andputting them on and taking them off to admire the inscriptions, these ringsenrich our understanding of the culture of prayer, its rites, andits practices in the late Middle Ages.Link to the essay to learnmore: https://www.lesenluminures.com/usr/documents/press/download_url/117/sandra-hindman-medieval-iconographic-rings.pdf
Origin: British Isles
Inner diameter ofthe ring: 18 mm.
950 €
Period: Before 16th century
Style: Renaissance, Louis 13th
Condition: Excellent condition
Material: Sterling silver
Diameter: dimension intérieure de l'anneau : 18 mm.
Reference (ID): 1792446
Availability: In stock
Print
