Watch

Jean Romilly

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The story of Roman Charity, as recounted in Book IX of De Factis Dictisque Memorabilis by the Roman historian Valerius Maximus, was well known in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Europe. As a representation of filial piety, it was the subject of many paintings, including several by Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640). The origin of the version used by the Huauds is not known, and the female figure of Pero, who breastfed her incarcerated father, Cimon, in order to save him from starvation, may in fact record a living model. The watchcase was one of the Huaud’s more popular designs, probably as much for its liberal exposure of feminine flesh as for the moral of the story.

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