Possibly Elizabeth of Austria
DepictedPossibly
Empress Elizabeth Amalie Eugenie
(Austrian, 1837 - 1898)
DateCase: late sixteenth or early seventeenth century; Wax: late sixteenth century
MediumGilded copper, painted and gilded wax, pearls, and glass
Dimensions5 1/8 x 3 1/2 x 1 in. (13 x 8.9 x 2.5 cm)
ClassificationsDecorative Arts
Credit LineBequest of John Ringling, 1936
Object numberSN1443.3
Along with an impressive array of decorative arts, painting, and sculpture, John Ringling acquired a group of charming wax portraits in his 1928 purchase of the Emile Gavet collection. Small and portable, these miniature likenesses were often given as gifts either during the sitter's lifetime or as memorials after death. Such gifts were placed in elaborate metal gilt cases and often bore inscriptions or dedications, as does the portrait of Giulio Genuiono, a 17th-century Neapolitan jurist (SN1443.10). Wax modeling had been a common practice for centuries among goldsmiths, sculptors, and architects, who often rendered preliminary, small-scale models in wax of larger works to be made in other media. Many portraits, such as the two depicting Italian noblewomen in elegant costumes (SN1443.3-4), show an acute attention to jewelry, suggesting that the first practitioners of wax portraits were goldsmiths.
On View
On viewCollections
Case: late fifteenth or early seventeenth century; Wax: mid- or late sixteenth century
Case: late sixteenth or early seventeenth century; Wax: late sixteenth century
Case: early seventeenth century; Wax: mid to late sixteenth century
Unknown
Case: Late sixteenth or early seventeenth century; Wax: mid-sixteenth century
Pope Clement XI
Case: late sixteenth or early seventeenth century; Wax: eighteenth century
Pope Benedict XIV
Case: late sixteenth or early seventeenth century; Wax: eighteenth century
Case: late sixteenth or early seventeenth century; Wax: mid to late sixteenth century
Case: late sixteenth or early seventeenth century; Wax: early seventeenth century
