Wellhead with Animal Motifs
Date: 1467
Dimensions:
35 1/2 × 32 × 33 in. (90.2 × 81.3 × 83.8 cm)
Medium: marble
Place of Origin: Venice, Italy
Classification: Architectural Elements
Credit Line: Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number: 1936.19
Label Text:At the Center of It All
The marble wellhead at the center of the gallery probably came from the courtyard of a Venetian house, but its placement here is typical of medieval monasteries and convents. Indeed, the earliest surviving architectural plan, a diagram of a monastery dating to the 800s, depicts a well at the center of its cloister.
The Museum’s wellhead was created in the early Renaissance, but intentionally imitates a traditional style of medieval Venice.
The four sides of the wellhead depict plants and animals that, from the beginning of Christianity, had powerful spiritual connotations. One side shows peacocks drinking from a vessel. Because ancient and medieval people believed a peacock’s flesh did not rot, it became a Christian symbol of eternal life. The container from which the birds eat and drink represents the bread and wine served at Christian worship, a ritual essential to Christian salvation.
The marble wellhead at the center of the gallery probably came from the courtyard of a Venetian house, but its placement here is typical of medieval monasteries and convents. Indeed, the earliest surviving architectural plan, a diagram of a monastery dating to the 800s, depicts a well at the center of its cloister.
The Museum’s wellhead was created in the early Renaissance, but intentionally imitates a traditional style of medieval Venice.
The four sides of the wellhead depict plants and animals that, from the beginning of Christianity, had powerful spiritual connotations. One side shows peacocks drinking from a vessel. Because ancient and medieval people believed a peacock’s flesh did not rot, it became a Christian symbol of eternal life. The container from which the birds eat and drink represents the bread and wine served at Christian worship, a ritual essential to Christian salvation.
DescriptionSquare; sides carved in varied patterns, angular pillars with flat arches. An inscription around upper edge.
On view
In Collection(s)