Roundel with a Personification of the Moon in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, July 2010

Title: Roundel with a Personification of the Moon

Date: ca. 860–890

Geography: Made in south central France

Culture: Carolingian

Medium: Cloisonné enamel, Copper alloy, gilding, iron back plate

Dimensions: Overall: 3 3/8 x 1/4 in. (8.6 x 0.6 cm)

Classification: Enamels-Cloisonné

Credit Line: Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917

Accession Number: 17.190.688

On View

Description:

This plaque is one of the earliest known examples of the cloisonné-enamel technique in the West. The moon (luna) is symbolically represented here as a female sky goddess riding in a chariot and holding torches. The plaque originally would have been accompanied by another, with an image of the sun, both probably framing a large crucifix.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/collection_database/mediev...