Escutcheon

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Made as the plate for a handle or a knocker, this escutcheon was attached to the door by the two baluster-shaped staples (one of which is modern). The skill of Spanish ironworkers was such that they could execute the elaborate grotesque ornament in the difficult medium of repossé iron. The style is derived from Roman wall decorations, which were discovered during excavations of the Golden House of Nero in Rome, begun about 1480.

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