Design for a Silver Vessel with Scenes from the Passion of Christ

Design for a Silver Vessel with Scenes from the Passion of Christ

Paulus Willemsz. van Vianen

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This design for an oval dish beautifully illustrates that Paulus van Vianen was not only a goldsmith, but also an excellent designer and draftsman. The dish has a religious theme with four compartments containing scenes from the Passion of Christ. From left to right and top to bottom are depicted: The Capture of Christ; Ecce Homo; The Crucifixion; The Resurrection. Van Vianen has further decorated the dish with angels, cherubs and trophies containing the so-called Arma Christi. Where parts have been left empty on the left side, we can assume Van Vianen intended a repetition of those motifs seen on the right. Unknown is what was to be depicted in the center of the dish.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Design for a Silver Vessel with Scenes from the Passion of ChristDesign for a Silver Vessel with Scenes from the Passion of ChristDesign for a Silver Vessel with Scenes from the Passion of ChristDesign for a Silver Vessel with Scenes from the Passion of ChristDesign for a Silver Vessel with Scenes from the Passion of Christ

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.