Door Lock: Christ on Throne between Two Saints and Angels

Unknown French, French

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about 1400

Iron

Overall: 8 × 6 5/8 in. (20.3 × 16.8 cm)

Weight: 2354 g (5.2 lb.)

Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Purchased through the William S. Rubin Fund

M.978.18

Geography

Place Made: France, Europe

Period

1400-1600

Object Name

Furnishings: Household Accessory

Research Area

Decorative Arts

On view

Label

The three lockplates in this case, as well as the masterpiece lock elsewhere in the gallery, are not usually categorized as sculpture. While clearly functional and part of day-to-day life, these locks are also aesthetic objects that feature styles and motifs of other genres of sculpture. For example, the gilded 16th-century lockplate covered with reliefs of masks, vases, armor, and classical figures repeats designs seen in prints and metalwork throughout this exhibition. In contrast, the plaquette with the scene of the Annunciation was not originally designed as a lockplate but was altered to include a keyhole behind the figure of the archangel Gabriel, depicted during his announcement to the Virgin that she will give birth to the Christ Child. While many lock designs evoke protection and security, this plaquette-turned-lockplate instead suggests the role of the lock in opening doors, just as the Annunciation marked the opening of Mary’s womb to God.

From the 2024 exhibition Living with Sculpture: Presence and Power in Europe, 1400–1750, curated by Elizabeth Rice Mattison, Andrew W. Mellon Curator of Academic Programming and Curator of European Art, and Ashley Offill, Curator of Collections

Course History

FREN 22, Medieval and Renaissance French Literature, Andrea Tarnowski, Spring 2022

History 3.01, Europe in the Age of Wonder, M. Cecilia Gaposchkin and Walter Simons, Winter 2023

History 42.01, Women's Gender, and Sexuality Studies 22.01, Gender & European Society, Patrick Meehan, Spring 2024

History 96.39, Saints and Relics, Cecilia Gaposchkin, Spring 2024

Italian 1.01, Introductory Italian I, Noemi Perego, Spring 2024

Italian 11.01, Intensive Italian, Floriana Ciniglia, Spring 2024

Italian 2.01, Introductory Italian II, Floriana Ciniglia, Spring 2024

Italian 3.01, Introductory Italian III, Tania Convertini, Spring 2024

Italian 3.02, Introductory Italian III, Giorgio Alberti, Spring 2024

Exhibition History

Living with Sculpture: Presence and Power in Europe, 1400–1750, Citrin Family Gallery and Engles Family Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, March 23, 2024–March 22, 2025.

Provenance

Paul Drey Gallery, New York, New York; sold to present collection, 1978.

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