id: 147991
accession number: 1974.86
share license status: CC0
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1974.86
updated: 2022-01-04 16:48:37.534000
Boncompagni-Ludovisi-Ottoboni Marriage Casket, 1731. Italy, Rome. Silver, partially gilt, malachite, lapis lazuli, enamel; overall: 19.1 x 40.7 x 22.9 cm (7 1/2 x 16 x 9 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1974.86
title: Boncompagni-Ludovisi-Ottoboni Marriage Casket
title in original language:
series:
series in original language:
creation date: 1731
creation date earliest: 1731
creation date latest: 1731
current location:
creditline: John L. Severance Fund
copyright:
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culture: Italy, Rome
technique: silver, partially gilt, malachite, lapis lazuli, enamel
department: Decorative Art and Design
collection: Decorative Arts
type: Silver
find spot:
catalogue raisonne:
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CREATORS
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measurements: Overall: 19.1 x 40.7 x 22.9 cm (7 1/2 x 16 x 9 in.)
state of the work:
edition of the work:
support materials:
inscriptions:
inscription: engraved arms of Boncompagni-Ludovisi and Boncompagni-Ludovisi-Ottoboni families. (Probably made in honor of wedding of Maria Francesca Ottoboni and Pier Gregorio Boncompagni-Ludovisi.)
Inscribed on the lid's central cartouche: AMOR / GIGNIT AMOREM / ROMAE MDCCXXXI
translation:
remark:
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
title: Year in Review: 1974
opening date: 1975-03-11T04:00:00
Year in Review: 1974. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (March 11-April 6, 1975).
title: All That Glitters: Great Silver Vessels in Cleveland's Collection
opening date: 1994-11-23T05:00:00
All That Glitters: Great Silver Vessels in Cleveland's Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 23, 1994-January 8, 1995).
title: Life and the Arts in the Baroque Palaces of Rome: Ambiente Barocco
opening date: 1999-03-10T00:00:00
Life and the Arts in the Baroque Palaces of Rome: Ambiente Barocco. Bard Graduate Center: Decorative Arts, Design History, Material Culture, New York, NY (organizer) (March 10-June 13, 1999); The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO (July 21-October 3, 1999).
title: Art of the Royal Court: Treasures in Pietre Dure from the Palaces of Europe
opening date: 2008-07-01T00:00:00
Art of the Royal Court: Treasures in Pietre Dure from the Palaces of Europe. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (July 1-September 21, 2008).
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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
* Life and the Arts in the Baroque Palaces of Rome: Ambiente Barocco. The Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, New York, 10 March-13 June, 1999; The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 21 July-3 October, 1999. Exh. cat. edited by Stefanie Walker and Frederick Hammond (New York, Yale University Press), exh. cat. no. 25, p. 146
Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC (7/1/2008 - 9/21/2008): "Art of the Royal Court: Treasures in Pietre Dure from the Palaces of Europe"
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PROVENANCE
Commissioned by Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni (1667-1740); his niece Maria Francesca Ottoboni and her husband, Pier Gregorio Boncompagni-Ludovisi, in 1731.
date:
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fun fact:
The Latin inscription on this marriage casket, "amor gignit amorem," means "love begets love," an appropriate prediction for an impending union.
digital description:
The giving of coins or other valuable items was a powerful symbol of engagement and marriage in Europe in the 1600s and 1700s. Often these valuables were presented and kept in elaborate caskets that remained the property of the wife throughout the marriage, to be drawn upon in time of need, or as a symbol of their wealth and prosperity. This silver and hardstone casket was the gift of Pier Gregorio Boncompagni Ludovisi upon his marriage to Francesca Ottoboni in 1731. Their marriage represented the merger of two very powerful Italian noble families—the Boncompagni Ludovisi from Bologna and the Ottoboni from Venice. Both families had settled in Rome in the 17th century, and each were closely aligned with the papacy, having produced numerous cardinals and popes. Appropriately adorned with scenes from the myth of Cupid and Psyche, in which the two lovers work to overcome obstacles to their marriage, the casket is a masterwork of Roman silversmithing in the Baroque taste prevalent at that time throughout Europe.
wall description:
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RELATED WORKS
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CITATIONS
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.
page number: reproduced P 140
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n160
Walker, Stefanie, and Frederick Hammond, eds. Life and the Arts in the Baroque Palaces of Rome: Ambiente Barocco. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999.
page number: mentioned P 146, cat. no. 25
url: http://library.clevelandart.org/opac/?func=find-b&find_code=OCL&submit=Search&request=40267421
Olszewski, Edward J. "The Enlightened Patronage of Cardinal Pietro Ottobini (1667-1740)." Artibus et Historiae 23, no. 45 (2002): 139-165.
page number: mentioned P 155
url: www.jstor.org/stable/1483685
Olszewski, Edward J. The Inventory of Paintings of Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni (1667-1740). New York: Peter Lang, 2004.
page number: mentioned P 302
url: http://library.clevelandart.org/opac/?func=find-b&find_code=OCL&submit=Search&request=51264105
Olszewski, Edward J. Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni (1667-1740) and the Vatican Tomb of Pope Alexander VIII. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 2004.
page number: mentioned P 57
url: http://library.clevelandart.org/opac/?func=find-b&find_code=OCL&submit=Search&request=56014539
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IMAGES
web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1974.86/1974.86_web.jpg
print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1974.86/1974.86_print.jpg
full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1974.86/1974.86_full.tif