Ewer stand with male and female profiles and arms of the Orsini family

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The motto FIDES O[M]NIA (Faith [or Fidelity] is all things) encircling the double portraits of a man and a woman suggests that the decoration of the plate refers to a marriage or betrothal. The inclusion of the Orsini coats of arms at top and bottom might indicate that both bride and groom were related to that powerful Roman family.

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