AMETHYST MEDALLION, PAINTED WITH “CHRIST IN THE OLIVE GROVE” Rome, circa 1620–40.

AMETHYST MEDALLION, PAINTED WITH “CHRIST IN THE OLIVE GROVE”

Rome, circa 1620–40.
Oval amethyst medallion painted with a depiction of Christ in the Olive Grove (preserved in fragmentary condition), with traces of gold highlights. Set in a gilt, moulded double bronze frame inset with jasper, lapis lazuli and agate in the form of medallions and cartouches. Copper backplate. Suspension loop at the top.
35 × 31.5 cm.
Restored. Painting fragmentary. Chips and losses to the stone inlays.

Provenance:
Collection of Arlette and Antony Embden, France.

Paintings on stone supports, particularly on amethyst, are rarities in 16th- and 17th-century Italian art. In Rome in particular, exquisite devotional paintings on semi-precious stones were produced during this period, with the natural colouring and veining of the stone deliberately incorporated into the pictorial effect. Comparable works include a Roman reliquary with a depiction of the Adoration of the Magi (cf. Francesca Cappelletti and Patrizia Cavazzini (eds.), "Timeless Wonder. Painting on Stone in Rome in the Cinquecento and Seicento", Rome 2022, pp. 132–133), as well as a depiction of the Baptism of Christ in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (inv. no. 70:1, 2-2008), attributed to the artist Filippo Lauri (1623–1694). Another example of painting on amethyst is preserved in the Gemäldegalerie Dresden and depicts the Stoning of St Stephen (ibid., p. 78, fig. 74). The choice of stone was based on its allegorical and metaphorical potential: the three colours of amethyst—violet, purple and pink—were understood as a reflection of the Christian Trinity (ibid., p. 132).