Heraldic chain with pendant badge

Michael Botza

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The pendant on this elaborate chain is enameled with the arms of Lutheran Elector Christian II, who ruled Saxony from 1591 to 1611. It also bears the mottoes A deo pro imperio, meaning from God for the defense of the empire, and Time deum, honora caesarum, fear God, honor the emperor. Several versions of this chain and badge survive, made for members of Christian II’s inner circle and so intimate that they were sometimes buried with their recipients.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.

Metropolitan Museum of Art