Wittenberg, October 31, 1517
Eyre Crowe, A. R. A.
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The Ascension
Gustave Doré
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Iron Safe
German, 17th Century
Gift of Paul W. Doll
Since the fall of humanity, there has been a need to prevent theft. At the end of Genesis 3, Adam and Eve were barred from Eden to keep them from partaking of the fruit of the Tree of Life. The cherubim armed with a flaming sword became the keepers of the Garden.
Securing one’s valuables is a universal priority, and man has devised various methods to accomplish the goal. One of the most common means of protection is the safe. From hotel rooms to bank vaults, a safe seeks to provide both security and safety for treasured items including M&G’s Iron Safe, a type of strong box sometimes called a coffer, casket, lock box, or armada chest.
Safes have existed for more than two millennia—even the Romans built and used money chests to protect valuables. While locked chests were used primarily for storing and protecting special items, it was common practice through the eighteenth-century for the safe’s aesthetic design to equal the importance of its security.
Early strong boxes were constructed of resilient and heavy wood that later was reinforced with metal straps and nails. As advancements were made in metallurgy, corresponding improvements were made in safe construction. M&G’s seventeenth-century safe would have been forged after the introduction of iron plates, and was probably crafted in Germany, where much of Europe’s iron work was manufactured. The cities of Southern Germany, such as Nuremberg, were particularly known for the craftsmanship of their blacksmiths and locksmiths, and demand was high for their lock boxes not only in Germany, but beyond.
M&G’s safe exhibits the common elements of a top opening safe from the 17th century with a spring-loaded keyhole cover accessed by pressing a slightly disguised button. A large key releases an elaborate steel locking mechanism inside. Once unlocked, a hand crank is used to lift the heavy lid.
Joseph Aronson explains that “the security of this safe lay in its great weight, probably self-defeating even in its own day. The whole top is the lock, with a naively hidden keyhole in the decorative plate on the center. Even though it would certainly foil pickpockets and larcenous domestics, the type occurs in pictures of war booty in transit.” This safe was quite possibly bolted to a ship officer’s cabin to secure valuables and plunder.
Visit Historical Locks and LockWiki to learn more.
John Good, M&G Docent and Security Manager
Published in 2018
Madonna and Child with Saints
Niccolò di Pietro Gerini
The Martyrdom of St. Perpetua and St. Felicitas
Oil on canvas, Signed and dated, Félix Leullier, 1880
Félix Louis Leullier
French, 1811–1882
In this arresting example of the nineteenth-century Romantic style, Felix Louis Leullier uses all the forces of paint and position to create a gruesome depiction of one of the most famous martyrdoms of the Christian church. Little known outside of France, Felix trained with Antoine-Jean Gros, renowned for his depictions of some of Napoleon’s famous battles: Battle of Arcole, Napoléon on the Battlefield of Eylau, and Battle of Abukir. Gros leaves little to the imagination in the spheres of conflict and conquest, so it is no wonder that his student, Felix, would choose to depict a martyrdom in a context resembling the twisted forms often found on a battlefield.
The painting’s setting is the Roman Amphitheatre in Carthage, the North African center of Christianity in the early centuries following Christ’s death and resurrection; there is little more than an outline remaining today of the prominent structure that seated 30,000. Although Felix most likely did not travel to that part of the world, he could have easily participated in a Grand Tour, a customary excursion in the 18th and 19th centuries for men coming of age, to see and learn from the culture and histories of antiquity. Such a broadening and experiential trip included significant time in Rome, where the Colosseum was a chief point of interest and which is very similar to Carthage’s own great amphitheater. The combined influence of travel and exposure to prominent depictions like Granet’s Interior View of the Colosseum in Rome, 1804 and Towne’s The Colosseum, 1781, Leullier opts to create only a faint representation of an outdoor arena.
On March 7, 203 AD, under the rule of the Roman emperor, Septimius Severus, the noblewoman Vibia Perpetua, was executed with her handmaid, Felicitas, and fellow catechumens, Revocatus, Saturninus, and Secundulus. Just a few years earlier in 197 AD in his treatise Apologeticus, Tertullian had posited that “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” As providence would have it, Tertullian himself was eyewitness and later chronicler to the gripping event portrayed in this work.
In addition to Tertullian’s account and Perpetua’s own prison diary, Passio Perpetuae et Felicitatis, in which she captures much of the detail up until the hour of her entrance into the arena, many attempts to present the event have been created in various media formats. It is contained in older volumes like Foxe’s Book of Martyrs (1563), as well as in more recent accounts like Thomas J. Heffernan’s The Passion of Perpetua and Felicity (2012). It is visible in paintings, drawings, mosaics, stained glass and illuminated manuscripts like Menologion of Basil II; and it has been presented in investigative journalism in the PBS Frontline series, From Jesus to Christ (1998).
Leullier’s visual rendering is indeed grand both in presentation and size, measuring nearly seven feet high by nine feet wide. Though literary works relate that Perpetua and Felicitas were martyred separately from the men, Leullier deviates from the historical account and instead depicts the entire company—the martyrs, the men that assaulted them, and the many animals that mauled them. By placing the massacre in the forefront of the work, the purity and testimony of these Christians’ story cannot be ignored.
Bonnie Merkle, M&G Database Manager and Docent
For further enrichment:
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Visit the M&G’s Bowen Collection of Antiquities where Roman antiquities are displayed.
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Visit the Museum of the Bible where 30 objects from the Museum & Gallery collection are exhibited, including a first century Roman funerary altar.
Published in 2018
George Washington (Lansdowne portrait) 1796
Gilbert Stuart
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Angel with Candlestick (pair)
Polychrome and parcel-gilt
Unknown
Florentine, c. late 15th century
Since paintings in an exhibit often take “center stage,” ecclesiastical pieces like these Angels with Candlestick can be overlooked by museum viewers. During the Renaissance, however, a polychrome sculptural grouping would often be the centerpiece of an altar’s decorative scheme while the painted narrative scenes or figures functioned as the “wings” of the altar. Although by the end of the sixteenth century, paintings became the central focus of Italian altarpieces, while sculpture continued to be used extensively in other countries like Spain.
The term polychrome (meaning “many colored”) refers to the application of colored materials to sculpture in order to present a more life-like quality. This technique dates back to the Greeks and Romans and was particularly popular during the Renaissance. Because these pigments fade over time such coloring is rarely discernable today. The good condition of these statues is due to the porous wood used which retains color well.
We know that the figures shown here were meant to be angels from the metal pins that remain on the back of each figure—a clear indication of the wings’ placement. Sadly, it is not uncommon for such appendages to be broken off or lost over centuries of movement from place to place. Fortunately, the carved wooden haloes have remained intact, as has the original base with its Latin inscriptions.
Since several of the words are Latin abbreviations, the precise translation of the inscriptions is unclear. However, a loose reading would be:
OVEM DEDIT VOBIS DNS ADVES CENTVIM
Dedicated to the Lord’s Advent
VENITE ET COMEDITE PANEM
Come and eat bread
ANGE ORVM
Angels
Donnalynn Hess, Director of Education
Published in 2018
Martin Luther Discovering Justification by Faith
Edward Matthew Ward, R. A.
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Amulets: Scarabs, Winged Scarab, Rectangular Plaque, Cat, Fly, Hippo, and Goddess Bes
Carnelian, faience, stone, and pottery
Egyptian, ranging from 1786 BC-30 BC
Amulets are an important part of ancient Egyptian culture. The origin of the word is uncertain but some scholars are of the opinion that the word has Arabic roots and means to bear or carry. More commonly, scholars believe the word comes from the Latin word amuletum meaning to avert evil or protect from a spell.
The ancient Egyptians believed that amulets possessed magical powers, which were determined by the amulet’s shape, color, and material. The amulet’s “powers” could be activated by reciting a spell or rubbing the amulet. Amulets were worn by both the rich and poor and might be made of precious stones and metals or cheaper materials such as faience, a ceramic made from quartz. The picture on the right provides a sampling of Egyptian amulets from M&G’s Bowen Collection of Antiquities. From left to right: fly, Hippo, Bes, and Cat.
During the Old Kingdom (2686 BC-2134 BC) these good luck charms consisted mainly of animal forms or symbols derived from hieroglyphs. However, progressing through the Middle Kingdom (2050 BC-1652 BC), amulets began to take on the form of ancient Egyptian gods. Finally, during the New Kingdom (1550-712 BC), amulets appeared in a variety of forms.
These special ornaments were used for two main purposes—in daily life and funeral preparation. In daily life, an Egyptian would wear or carry and amulet for protection or good luck. In funerary ritual, the mummies were often buried with multiple charms to ensure protection in the after-life. The amulets might be part of necklaces and bracelets or interspersed in the layers of linen wrapping the mummified body.
The scarab was the most popular amulet in ancient Egypt; it was formed in the shape of a beetle and became a good luck charm, believed to bring prosperity and eternal life. The Egyptians viewed the beetle as a divine manifestation of the sun-god Ra; just as the beetles rolled balls of dung across the ground, so Ra controlled the movement of the sun in the sky. The heart scarab was placed on the chest of a deceased person. It was believed to help the person “pass the feather of truth test.” This test would allow the individual to pass on into the after-life. The heart scarab had a spell inscribed on the back that can be found in the Book of the Dead. 
Carissa Wells, Elementary Education Coordinator
Published in 2018
ArtBreak 2020-2021
During Covid19, M&G adapted our monthly ArtBreak to a different format—a podcast to enjoy on any personal break! Like our normal in-person lunch and lecture construct, you’ll hear various M&G staff members and guests for each, roughly 35-minute program—in the comfort and safety of your own surroundings. Listen to these monthly features below or find us on Spotify or Apple Podcasts!
Note: M&G is planning to return to our in-person programming October 2021.
September 10, 2020—What is ArtBreak?
October 8, 2020—Gut Reaction: Favorites in M&G’s Collection
November 12, 2020—On Location: Closing & Opening an Exhibition
December 10, 2020—Gut Reaction: What is your favorite Christmas-themed artwork?
January 14, 2021—Conversation with a Conservator
February 11, 2021—A Conversation: What is Museum on the Move?
March 11, 2021—Insights: What Artist(s) do you think should be a household name?
April 8, 2021—On Looking at Art
Click on the links below, if you would like to see the described works from the April podcast:
Linda McCray
Lucas Cranach, the Younger
Priscilla Roberts
May 13, 2021—Gut Reaction: Art Experiences to Remember
