The Walters Art Museum, located in
Mount Vernon-Belvedere,
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
,
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, is a
public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichk ...
art museum
An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own collection. It might be in public or private ownership and may be accessible to all or have restrictions in place. Although primarily con ...
founded and opened in 1934. It holds collections established during the mid-19th century. The museum's collection was amassed substantially by major American art and sculpture collectors, a father and son:
William Thompson Walters
William Thompson Walters (May 23, 1820 – November 22, 1894) was an American businessman and art collector, whose collection formed the basis of the Walters Art Museum.
Early life
Walters was born on the Juniata River in Liverpool, Pennsy ...
, (1819–1894), who began collecting when he moved to
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
as a nominal Southern/
Confederate
Confederacy or confederate may refer to:
States or communities
* Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities
* Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...
sympathizer at the outbreak of the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
in 1861; and
Henry Walters
Henry Walters (September 26, 1848 – November 30, 1931) was noted as an art collector and philanthropist, a founder of the Walters Art Gallery (now the Walters Art Museum) in Baltimore, Maryland, which he donated to the city in his 1931 will f ...
(1848–1931), who refined the collection and made arrangements for the construction of a later landmark building to rehouse it. After allowing the Baltimore public to occasionally view his father's and his growing added collections at his West Mount Vernon Place townhouse/mansion during the late 1800s, he arranged for an elaborate stone
palazzo
A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...
-styled structure built for that purpose in 1905–1909. Located across the back alley, a block south of the Walters mansion on West Monument Street/Mount Vernon Place, on the northwest corner of
North Charles Street at West Centre Street.
The mansion and gallery were also just south and west of the landmark
Washington Monument
The Washington Monument is an obelisk shaped building within the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, once commander-in-chief of the Continental Army (1775–1784) in the American Revolutionary War and th ...
in the
Mount Vernon-Belvedere neighborhood, just north of the downtown business district and northeast of Cathedral Hill. Upon his 1931 death, Henry Walters bequeathed the entire collection of then more than 22,000 works, the original
Charles Street Gallery building, and his adjacent townhouse/mansion just across the alley to the north on West Mount Vernon Place to the City of Baltimore, "for the benefit of the public." The collection includes masterworks of
ancient Egypt,
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
sculpture and
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
sarcophagi,
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
ivories, illuminated manuscripts,
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...
bronzes, Old Master European and 19th-century paintings,
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
ceramics and bronzes,
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
jewelry, and ancient Near East,
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...
n, or ancient
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
items.
Dorothy Miner became its first Keeper of Manuscripts in 1934 and held the post until her death in 1973.
In 2000, "The Walters Art Gallery" changed its long-time name to "The Walters Art Museum"
to reflect its image as a large public institution and eliminate confusion among some of the increasing out-of-state visitors. The following year, "The Walters" (as it is often known locally) reopened its original main building after a dramatic three-year physical renovation and replacement of internal utilities and infrastructure. The
Archimedes Palimpsest was on loan to the Walters Art Museum from a private collector for conservation and spectral imaging studies.
Starting on October 1, 2006, the museum was enabled to make admission free to all, year-round, as a result of substantial grants given by Baltimore City and the surrounding suburban
Baltimore County
Baltimore County ( , locally: or ) is the third-most populous county in the U.S. state of Maryland and is part of the Baltimore metropolitan area. Baltimore County (which partially surrounds, though does not include, the independent City of ...
arts agencies and authorities. In 2012, "The Walters" released nearly 20,000 of its own images of its collections on a
Creative Commons license
A Creative Commons (CC) license is one of several public copyright licenses that enable the free distribution of an otherwise copyrighted "work".A "work" is any creative material made by a person. A painting, a graphic, a book, a song/lyric ...
, and collaborated in their upload to the
world-wide web
The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet.
Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web s ...
and the
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
on
Wikimedia Commons
Wikimedia Commons (or simply Commons) is a media repository of free-to-use images, sounds, videos and other media. It is a project of the Wikimedia Foundation.
Files from Wikimedia Commons can be used across all of the Wikimedia projects in ...
.
This was one of the largest and most comprehensive such releases made by any museum.
Permanent collection
Ancient art
The Walters' collection of ancient art includes examples from
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
,
Nubia
Nubia () (Nobiin: Nobīn, ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the first cataract of the Nile (just south of Aswan in southern Egypt) and the confluence of the Blue and White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), or ...
,
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...
,
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
,
Etruria and the
Near East. Highlights include two monumental 3,000-pound statues of the Egyptian lion-headed fire goddess
Sekhmet
In Egyptian mythology, Sekhmet ( or Sachmis (), also spelled Sakhmet, Sekhet, Sakhet among other spellings, cop, Ⲥⲁⲭⲙⲓ, Sakhmi), is a warrior goddess as well as goddess of healing. She is depicted as a lioness.
Sekhmet is a solar de ...
on long-term loan from the British Museum; the Walters Mummy;
alabaster
Alabaster is a mineral or rock that is soft, often used for carving, and is processed for plaster powder. Archaeologists and the stone processing industry use the word differently from geologists. The former use it in a wider sense that include ...
reliefs from the palace of
Ashurnasirpal II;
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
gold jewelry, including the
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
bracelets from
Olbia
Olbia (, ; sc, Terranoa; sdn, Tarranoa) is a city and commune of 60,346 inhabitants (May 2018) in the Italian insular province of Sassari in northeastern Sardinia, Italy, in the historical region of Gallura. Called ''Olbia'' in the Roman age ...
on the shores of the
Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...
; the
Praxitelean
Praxiteles (; el, Πραξιτέλης) of Athens, the son of Cephisodotus the Elder, was the most renowned of the Attica sculptors of the 4th century BC. He was the first to sculpt the nude female form in a life-size statue. While no indubit ...
Satyr; a large assemblage of
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
portrait heads; a
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
bronze banquet couch, and marble sarcophagi from the tombs of the prominent Licinian and Calpurnian families.
File:Phoenician - Bowl with Hunting Scene - Walters 57705.jpg, Phoenician metal bowls
Phoenician metal bowls are approximately 90 decorative bowls made in the 7th–8th centuries BCE from bronze, silver and gold (often in the form of electrum), found since the mid-19th century in the Eastern Mediterranean and Iraq. They were histor ...
File:Sumerian - Male Worshiper - Walters 215 (2).jpg, Sumerian male worshiper, c.2300 BC
File:Egyptian - Statue of a Vizier, Usurped by Pa-di-iset - Walters 22203.jpg, Padiiset's Statue, illustrates Canaan
Canaan (; Phoenician: 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – ; he, כְּנַעַן – , in pausa – ; grc-bib, Χανααν – ;The current scholarly edition of the Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus T ...
- Ancient Egypt trade, c.1700 B.C. (inscription c.900 B.C.)
File:Roman - Portrait of Livia - Walters 23211 - Three Quarter.jpg, Portrait bust of Livia, wife of Emperor/Caesar Augustus
Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...
, (Octavius), c.35 B.C.
File:Egyptian - Mummy Portrait of a Bearded Man - Walters 326.jpg, Al Fayum mummy portrait, Roman Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
, c. A.D. 175
File:Byzantine - The "Rubens Vase" - Walters 42562 - Three Quarter Left.jpg, The Rubens Vase, an agate
Agate () is a common rock formation, consisting of chalcedony and quartz as its primary components, with a wide variety of colors. Agates are primarily formed within volcanic and metamorphic rocks. The ornamental use of agate was common in Anci ...
hardstone carving
Hardstone carving is a general term in art history and archaeology for the artistic carving of predominantly semi-precious stones (but also of gemstones), such as jade, rock crystal (clear quartz), agate, onyx, jasper, serpentinite, or carneli ...
of c. A.D. 400
File:Roman - Funeral Stele with Latin Inscription Referring To Mithra - Walters 2317.jpg, Roman Funeral stele with Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
inscription referring to Mithra
Mithra ( ae, ''Miθra'', peo, 𐎷𐎰𐎼 ''Miça'') commonly known as Mehr, is the Iranian deity of covenant, light, oath, justice and the sun. In addition to being the divinity of contracts, Mithra is also a judicial figure, an all-seein ...
Art of the ancient Americas
In 1911, Henry Walters purchased almost 100 gold artifacts from the
Chiriqui region of western
Panama
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...
in
Central America
Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...
, creating a core collection of ancient American native art. Through subsequent gifts of art and loans, the museum has added works, mostly in pottery and stone, from
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, Central America and
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...
, including pieces from the
Mesoamerican
Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. Withi ...
Olmec
The Olmecs () were the earliest known major Mesoamerican civilization. Following a progressive development in Soconusco, they occupied the tropical lowlands of the modern-day Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco. It has been speculated that ...
,
Aztec
The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl ...
, and
Maya
Maya may refer to:
Civilizations
* Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America
** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples
** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples
* Maya (Ethiopia), a popul ...
cultures, as well as the
Moche and
Inca
The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, (Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The admin ...
peoples of
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...
.
File:Colima - Dancing Figure Whistle - Walters 20092029 - Three Quarter Left.jpg, Whistle in the form of a dancing figure from Colima
Colima (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Colima ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Colima), is one of the 31 states that make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It shares its name with its capital and main city, Colima.
Colima i ...
, Mexico, pottery, c. 300 B.C. - A.D. 200
File:Mayan - Stucco Portrait Head - Walters 20092046 - View A.jpg, Maya
Maya may refer to:
Civilizations
* Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America
** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples
** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples
* Maya (Ethiopia), a popul ...
head in stucco, A.D. 550-850
File:Mixteca-Puebla style labret.jpg, Mixteca-Puebla style labret
A labret is a form of body piercing. Taken literally, it is any type of adornment that is attached to the lip (labrum). However, the term usually refers to a piercing that is below the bottom lip, above the chin. It is sometimes referred to as a ...
, obsidian
Asian art
Highlights of the
Asian art
The history of Asian art includes a vast range of arts from various cultures, regions, and religions across the continent of Asia. The major regions of Asia include Central, East, South, Southeast, and West Asia.
Central Asian art primarily c ...
collection assembled earlier by Baltimorean father and son collectors
William T. and
Henry Walters
Henry Walters (September 26, 1848 – November 30, 1931) was noted as an art collector and philanthropist, a founder of the Walters Art Gallery (now the Walters Art Museum) in Baltimore, Maryland, which he donated to the city in his 1931 will f ...
include
Japanese arms and armor, and
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
and
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
porcelains, lacquers, and metalwork. Among the museum's outstanding works of Asian art is a late-12th- or early-13th-century Cambodian bronze of the eight-armed
Avalokiteshvara, a
T'ang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingd ...
earthenware camel, and an intricately painted
Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peo ...
wine jar. The museum owns the oldest surviving
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
wood-and-lacquer image of the
Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...
(late 6th century AD). It is exhibited in a gallery dedicated solely to this work.
The museum holds one of the largest and finest collections of
Thai (
Siam
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
/
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
) bronze, scrolls, and banner paintings in the world.
Indian - Head of a Jain Tirthankara - Walters 25262.jpg, Head of a Jain
Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...
Tirthankara
In Jainism, a ''Tirthankara'' (Sanskrit: '; English: literally a ' ford-maker') is a saviour and spiritual teacher of the '' dharma'' (righteous path). The word ''tirthankara'' signifies the founder of a '' tirtha'', which is a fordable pass ...
, India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, 10th century
Indian - Mandala of Padmavati - Walters 543007.jpg, 'Mandala of Padmavati' - bronze statue of Goddess Padmavati
Padmavati (, ) also known as Alamelu Manga is a Hindu goddess and the consort of the deity Venkateswara, a form of Vishnu. She is described as a daughter of local king and an avatar of goddess Lakshmi, the consort of Vishnu.
The most promi ...
, India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, 11th century
Indian_-_Jina_Parshvanatha_with_Attendants_-_Walters_543013.jpg, Brass idol of tirthankar Parshvanatha, India, 16th century
File:Chinese - Seated Guanyin (Kuan-yin) Bodhisattva - Walters 25256 - Detail C.jpg, Detail of Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peo ...
wood and lacquer Guanyin
Guanyin () is a Bodhisattva associated with compassion. She is the East Asian representation of Avalokiteśvara ( sa, अवलोकितेश्वर) and has been adopted by other Eastern religions, including Chinese folk religion. She ...
File:Tibetan - Phurbu-cum-chopper - Walters 511448 - View A.jpg, 15th-century Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...
, an ritual knife and chopper
File:Thai - Vessantara Jataka, Chapter 10 (Indra's Realm) - Walters 35269 - A T Front.jpg, 19th-century Thai illustration of Vessantara Jataka, Ch 10
File:Chinese - Jar with Design of a Dragon - Walters 47691.jpg, 18th-century Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
jar with dragon
File:Hashiguchi Goyo - Woman in Blue Combing Her Hair - Walters 95880.jpg, Hashiguchi Goyo Hashiguchi (written: 橋口 lit. "bridge mouth") is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include:
*, Japanese artist
*, Japanese photographer
*, Japanese footballer
*, Japanese film director
*, Japanese manga artist
{{surname
Japa ...
, ''Woman in Blue Combing Her Hair'', woodblock print
Woodblock printing or block printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later paper. Each page or image is create ...
, Japan, 1920
Islamic art
Islamic art in all media is represented at the Walters. Among the highlights are a 7th-century carved and hammered silver bowl from
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
, (ancient
Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
); a 13th-century candlestick made of copper, silver, and gold from the
Mamluk
Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...
era in
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
; 16th-century mausoleum doors decorated with intricate wood carvings in a radiating star pattern; a 17th-century silk sash from the
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...
in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
; and a 17th-century
Turkish tile with an image of the
Masjid al-Haram ("Great Mosque of Mecca"), the center of
Islam in
Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow ...
, (modern
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
).
The Walters Museum owns an array of
Islamic manuscripts. These include a 15th-century
Koran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , si ...
from northern
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, executed at the height of the
Timurid Timurid refers to those descended from Timur (Tamerlane), a 14th-century conqueror:
* Timurid dynasty, a dynasty of Turco-Mongol lineage descended from Timur who established empires in Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent
** Timurid Empire of C ...
Empire; a 16th-century copy of the "
Khamsa of Nizami
The ''Khamsa'' ( fa, خمسه, 'Quintet' or 'Quinary', from Arabic) or ''Panj Ganj'' ( fa, پنج گنج, 'Five Treasures') is the main and best known work of Nizami Ganjavi.
Description
The ''Khamsa'' is in five long narrative poems:
* '' Ma ...
(
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...
, Or. 12208), Khamsa" by
Amir Khusraw
Abu'l Hasan Yamīn ud-Dīn Khusrau (1253–1325 AD), better known as Amīr Khusrau was an Indo-Persian Sufi singer, musician, poet and scholar who lived under the Delhi Sultanate. He is an iconic figure in the cultural history of the Indian sub ...
, illustrated by a number of famous artists for the Emperor
Akbar; and a
Turkish calligraphy album by
Sheikh Hamadullah Al-Amasi, one of the greatest
calligraphers of all time.
Walters Art Museum, MS W.613 contains five
Mughal miniatures from an important "
Khamsa of Nizami
The ''Khamsa'' ( fa, خمسه, 'Quintet' or 'Quinary', from Arabic) or ''Panj Ganj'' ( fa, پنج گنج, 'Five Treasures') is the main and best known work of Nizami Ganjavi.
Description
The ''Khamsa'' is in five long narrative poems:
* '' Ma ...
" made for the Emperor
Akbar; the rest are in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
,
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...
.
File:Islamic - Folio with Kufic Script - Walters W55236B - Full Page.jpg, Early Qur'an
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...
page in Kufic script
Kufic script () is a style of Arabic script that gained prominence early on as a preferred script for Quran transcription and architectural decoration, and it has since become a reference and an archetype for a number of other Arabic scripts. It ...
, 9th century
File:Egyptian - Candlestick Base - Walters 54459 - View K.jpg, Mamluk
Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...
-era in Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
candlestick base, c1240, brass with silver, gold and copper inlays
File:Dharm Das - The Death of Darius - Walters W61326B - Full Page.jpg, ''The Death of Darius'', Mughal miniature
Mughal painting is a style of painting on paper confined to miniatures either as book illustrations or as single works to be kept in albums ( muraqqa), from the territory of the Mughal Empire in South Asia. It emerged from Persian miniature pai ...
from Akbar's ''Khamsa of Nizami
The ''Khamsa'' ( fa, خمسه, 'Quintet' or 'Quinary', from Arabic) or ''Panj Ganj'' ( fa, پنج گنج, 'Five Treasures') is the main and best known work of Nizami Ganjavi.
Description
The ''Khamsa'' is in five long narrative poems:
* '' Ma ...
'', 1595, MS W.613
File:Turkish - Rifle - Walters 5184 - Detail L.jpg, Detail of an 18th-century ceremonial jeweled Turkish rifle
File:Islamic - Binding from Qur'an - Walters W8531binding - Bottom Interior.jpg, Inside of Qur'an
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...
cover, 19th century, sub-Saharan Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
Medieval European art
Henry Walters assembled a collection of art produced during the Middle Ages in all the major artistic media of the period. This forms the basis of the Walters'
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
collection, for which the museum is best known internationally. Considered one of the best collections of medieval art in the United States, the museum's holdings include examples of metalwork, sculpture, stained glass, textiles, icons, and other paintings. The collection is especially renowned for its ivories, enamels,
reliquaries
A reliquary (also referred to as a ''shrine'', by the French term ''châsse'', and historically including '' phylacteries'') is a container for relics. A portable reliquary may be called a ''fereter'', and a chapel in which it is housed a ''fe ...
, early
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
silver, post-Byzantine art,
illuminated manuscripts, and the largest and finest collection of
Ethiopian Orthodox Church art outside Ethiopia.
The Walters' medieval collection features unique objects such as the Byzantine agate Rubens Vase that belonged to the painter
Rubens (accession no. 42.562) and the earliest-surviving image of the "Virgin of Tenderness", an ivory carving produced in Egypt in the 6th or 7th century (accession no. 71.297). Sculpted heads from the royal
Abbey of St. Denis
The Basilica of Saint-Denis (french: Basilique royale de Saint-Denis, links=no, now formally known as the ) is a large former medieval abbey church and present cathedral in the commune of Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris. The building ...
are rare surviving examples of portal sculptures that are directly connected with the origins of
Gothic art
Gothic art was a style of medieval art that developed in Northern France out of Romanesque art in the 12th century AD, led by the concurrent development of Gothic architecture. It spread to all of Western Europe, and much of Northern, Southern and ...
in 12th-century
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
(accession nos. 27.21 and 27.22). An
ivory casket covered with scenes of jousting knights is one of about a dozen such objects to survive in the world (accession no. 71.264).
Many of these works are on display in the museum's galleries. Works from the medieval collection are also frequently included in special touring exhibitions, such as ''Treasures of Heaven'', an exhibition about
relics and reliquaries that was on view at the
Cleveland Museum of Art
The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in Cleveland, Ohio, located in the Wade Park District, in the University Circle neighborhood on the city's east side. Internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian and Egyptian ...
in (
Cleveland, Ohio), the Walters Art Museum, and the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
in 2010–11.
Works in the medieval collection are the subject of active research by the curatorial and conservation departments of the museum, and visiting researchers frequently make use of the museum's holdings. In-depth technical research carried on these objects is made available to the public through publications and exhibitions, as in the case of the Amandus Shrine (accession no. 53.9), which was featured in a small special exhibition titled ''The Special Dead'' in 2008–09.
File:Hunnish - Set of Horse Trappings - Walters 571050, 571051, 571052, 571060 - View A.jpg, Hunnish
The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...
set of horse trappings
Tack is equipment or accessories equipped on horses and other equines in the course of their use as domesticated animals. This equipment includes such items as saddles, stirrups, bridles, halters, reins, bits, and harnesses. Equipping a horse i ...
, 4th century
File:French - Box Lid with a Tournament - Walters 71274.jpg, French Gothic ivory Box Lid with a Tournament, 14th century (Walters 71274)
File:Master of Walters 323 - Leaf from Barbavara Book of Hours - Walters W32352R - Open Obverse.jpg, Leaf from Barbavara Book of Hours, Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
c. 1440
File:English - Resurrection - Walters 27308.jpg, 15th century Nottingham alabaster
Nottingham alabaster is a term used to refer to the English sculpture industry, mostly of relatively small religious carvings, which flourished from the fourteenth century until the early sixteenth century. Alabaster carvers were at work in Lo ...
panel of the ''Resurrection of Christ
The resurrection of Jesus ( grc-x-biblical, ἀνάστασις τοῦ Ἰησοῦ) is the Christian belief that God raised Jesus on the third day after his crucifixion, starting – or restoring – his exalted life as Christ and Lord ...
''
File:German - Chandelier - Walters 61309.jpg, German chandelier, red deer
The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of we ...
antler and wood, 15th century
There are also Late Medieval devotional Italian paintings by these painters at the Walters:
Tommaso da Modena
Tomaso Barisini, better known as Tommaso da Modena and sometimes called Tomaso Baffini (1326 – 1379) was an Italian painter of the mid-14th century.
Biography
Tommaso trained in Venice and worked mostly in Northern Italy, but also worked for ...
,
Pietro Lorenzetti
Pietro Lorenzetti (; – 1348) or Pietro Laurati was an Italian painter, active between c. 1306 and 1345. Together with his younger brother Ambrogio, he introduced naturalism into Sienese art. In their artistry and experiments with three-dimen ...
,
Andrea di Bartolo
Andrea di Bartolo or Andrea di Bartolo Cini (1360/70 – 1428) was an Italian painter, stained glass designer and Illuminated manuscript, illuminator of the Sienese School mainly known for his religious subjects. He was active between 1389–142 ...
(''Resurrection''),
Alberto Sotio
Alberto Sotio (... - fl. 1187), also Alberto Sozio, was an Italian painter and illuminator of medieval art from Spoleto, active during the second half of the twelfth century.
Biography
Alberto Sotio is considered the central figure of the twe ...
,
Bartolomeo di Tommaso
Bartolomeo di Tommaso, also known as Bartolomeo da Foligno (born in Foligno, c. 1400, active by 1425, died 1453–54) was an Italian painter of the Umbro- Sienese school.
Life and career
He was in Ancona from 1425 to 1442, when he returned to Fo ...
(''Death of Saint Francis''),
Naddo Ceccarelli
Naddo Ceccarelli (documented 1347, active c. 1330–60) was a 14th-century Italian painter of the Sienese School.
Work
Naddo Ceccarelli was a gifted pupil of the leading Sienese painter Simone Martini (ca. 1284–1344). He may have travelled w ...
,
Master of Saint Verdiana,
Niccolo di Segna (''Saint Lucy''),
Orcagna
Andrea di Cione di Arcangelo (c. 1308 – 25 August 1368), better known as Orcagna, was an Italian painter, sculptor, and architect active in Florence. He worked as a consultant at the Florence Cathedral and supervised the construction of the fa ...
,
Olivuccio di Ciccarello,
Master of Panzano Triptych and
Giovanni del Biondo
Giovanni del Biondo was a 14th-century Italian painter of the Gothic and early-Renaissance period. He was active in the period 1356-1399 and is mainly known for his panel paintings. He specialized in religious-themed works, many of which have su ...
.
Renaissance, Baroque and 18th-century European art
The collection of European Renaissance and Baroque art features holdings of paintings, sculpture, furniture, ceramics, metal work, arms and armor. The highlights include
Hugo van der Goes
Hugo van der Goes (c. 1430/1440 – 1482) was one of the most significant and original Early Netherlandish painting, Flemish painters of the late 15th century. Van der Goes was an important painter of altarpieces as well as portraits. He introduce ...
' ''Donor with Saint John the Baptist'',
Heemskerck's ''Panorama with the Abduction of Helen Amidst the Wonders of the Ancient World'',
Giambattista Pittoni's ''Sacrifice of Polyxena'', the ''Madonna of the Candelabra'', from the studio of
Raphael
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual a ...
,
Veronese's ''Portrait Of Countess Livia da Porto Thiene and her Daughter Porzia'',
El Greco's ''Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata'',
Bernini's "
bozzetto
A ''maquette'' (French word for scale model, sometimes referred to by the Italian names ''plastico'' or ''modello'') is a scale model or rough draft of an unfinished sculpture. An equivalent term is ''bozzetto'', from the Italian word for "sketc ...
" of ''Risen Christ'',
Tiepolo
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo ( , ; March 5, 1696 – March 27, 1770), also known as Giambattista (or Gianbattista) Tiepolo, was an Italian painter and printmaker from the Republic of Venice who painted in the Rococo style, considered an import ...
's ''Scipio Africanus Freeing Massiva'', and ''The Ideal City'' attributed to
Fra Carnevale
Fra Carnevale OP ( 1420–25 – 1484) was an Italian painter of the Quattrocento, active mainly in Urbino. Widely regarded as one of the most enigmatic artists, there are only nine works that can be definitively attributed to Carnevale know ...
. The museum has one of ten surviving examples of the
Sèvres pot-pourri vase in the shape of a ship from the 1750s and 1760s.
File:Fra Carnevale - The Ideal City - Walters 37677.jpg, ''The Ideal City'' (c. 1480–1484) attributed to Fra Carnevale
Fra Carnevale OP ( 1420–25 – 1484) was an Italian painter of the Quattrocento, active mainly in Urbino. Widely regarded as one of the most enigmatic artists, there are only nine works that can be definitively attributed to Carnevale know ...
File:Workshop of Raphael - Madonna of the Candelabra - Walters 37484.jpg, ''Madonna of the Candelabra
The ''Madonna of the Candelabra'' is a Madonna painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael, dating to about 1513-1514 and is in the collection of the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore.
Painted during his Roman period, this tondo Madonna o ...
'' (c. 1513) by Raphael
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual a ...
.
File:Master Jean de Mauléon - Leaf from Book of Hours - Walters W44976R - Open Obverse.jpg, Leaf from Book of Hours, French Renaissance, 1524
File:Giovanni Bernardi - The Battle of Pavia - Walters 4168.jpg, The ''Battle of Pavia
The Battle of Pavia, fought on the morning of 24 February 1525, was the decisive engagement of the Italian War of 1521–1526 between the Kingdom of France and the Habsburg empire of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor as well as ruler of Spain, ...
'', engraved on rock crystal
Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical form ...
for a Medici Cardinal by Giovanni Bernardi
Giovanni Bernardi (1494 – 22 May 1553), also known as Giovanni da Castel Bolognese and as Giovanni da Castelbolognese, was an Italian gem engraver and medallist who was born in Castel Bolognese, Italy. He was the son of a goldsmith and ...
, 1530s
File:Giovanni Battista Tiepolo - Scipio Africanus Freeing Massiva - Walters 37657.jpg, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, '' Scipio Africanus Freeing Massiva'', c. 1720
File:Giovanni Battista Pittoni - The Sacrifice of Polyxena - Google Art Project.jpg, ''The Sacrifice of Polyxena'', Giambattista Pittoni
Image:Pompeo Girolamo Batoni - Portrait of Cardinal Prospero Colonna di Sciarra - Walters 371205.jpg, Pompeo Batoni
Pompeo Girolamo Batoni (25 January 1708 – 4 February 1787) was an Italian painter who displayed a solid technical knowledge in his portrait work and in his numerous allegorical and mythological pictures. The high number of foreign visitors tra ...
, ''Portrait of Cardinal Prospero Colonna di Sciarra'', c. 1750
Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory - Potpourri Vase (Vase potpourri à vaisseau) - Walters 48559.jpg, Sèvres pot-pourri vase in the shape of a ship, 1764
19th-century European art
William and Henry Walters collected works by late-19th-century French academic masters and
Impressionists
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...
. Highlights of the collection include ''
Odalisque with Slave
''Odalisque with Slave'' (French: ''L'Odalisque à l'esclave'') is an 1839 painting by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres commissioned by Charles Marcotte. Executed in oil on canvas, it depicts a nude odalisque, a musician, and a eunuch in a harem int ...
'' by
Ingres (a second version);
Claude Monet
Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. Durin ...
's ''Springtime'';
Alfred Sisley
Alfred Sisley (; ; 30 October 1839 – 29 January 1899) was an Impressionist landscape painter who was born and spent most of his life in France, but retained British citizenship. He was the most consistent of the Impressionists in his dedicatio ...
's panoramic view of the Seine Valley; and
Édouard Manet
Édouard Manet (, ; ; 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism.
Bo ...
's realist masterpiece, ''The Café Concert''.
Henry Walters was particularly interested in the courtly arts of 18th-century France. The museum's collection of
Sèvres
Sèvres (, ) is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris, in the Hauts-de-Seine department, Île-de-France region. The commune, which had a population of 23,251 as of 2018, is known for ...
porcelain includes a number of pieces that were made for members of the Royal Bourbon Court at
Versailles Palace
The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 19 ...
outside of
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
. Portrait miniatures and the examples of goldsmiths' works, especially snuffboxes and watches, are displayed in the Treasury, along with some exceptional 19th- and early-20th-century works. Among them are examples of
Art Nouveau-styled jewelry by
René Lalique
René Jules Lalique (6 April 1860 – 1 May 1945) was a French jeweller, medallist, and glass designer known for his creations of glass art, perfume bottles, vases, jewellery, chandeliers, clocks, and automobile hood ornaments.
Life
Lalique' ...
, jeweled objects by the House of
Fabergé, including two
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
n Imperial Easter eggs, and precious jewels by
Tiffany and Co. of
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
.
The Walters' collection presents an overview of 19th-century European art, particularly art from
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
. From the first half of the century come major paintings by Ingres,
Géricault, and
Delacroix Delacroix is a French surname that derives from ''de la Croix'' ("of the Cross").
It may refer to:
People
* Caroline Delacroix (1883–1945), French-Romanian mistress of Leopold II of Belgium
* Charles-François Delacroix (1741–1805), ...
. William Walters stayed in Paris with his family during the
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
, because of his notorious Southern-leanings, and he soon developed a keen interest in contemporary European painting. He either commissioned directly from the artists or purchased at auctions such major works by the
Barbizon
Barbizon () is a commune (town) in the Seine-et-Marne department in north-central France. It is located near the Fontainebleau Forest.
Demographics
The inhabitants are called ''Barbizonais''.
Art history
The Barbizon school of painters is nam ...
masters, including
Jean-François Millet
Jean-François Millet (; 4 October 1814 – 20 January 1875) was a French artist and one of the founders of the Barbizon school in rural France. Millet is noted for his paintings of peasant farmers and can be categorized as part of the Realism ...
and
Henri Rousseau
Henri Julien Félix Rousseau (; 21 May 1844 – 2 September 1910)
at the Jean-Léon Gérôme
Jean-Léon Gérôme (11 May 1824 – 10 January 1904) was a French painter and sculptor in the style now known as academicism. His paintings were so widely reproduced that he was "arguably the world's most famous living artist by 1880." The ra ...
and
Lawrence Alma-Tadema
Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, (; born Lourens Alma Tadema ; 8 January 1836 – 25 June 1912) was a Dutch painter who later settled in the United Kingdom becoming the last officially recognised denizen in 1873. Born in Dronryp, the Netherlands, ...
; and even the modernists
Monet
Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During ...
,
Manet
A wireless ad hoc network (WANET) or mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is a decentralized type of wireless network. The network is ad hoc because it does not rely on a pre-existing infrastructure, such as routers in wired networks or access points ...
, and
Sisley
Alfred Sisley (; ; 30 October 1839 – 29 January 1899) was an Impressionist landscape painter who was born and spent most of his life in France, but retained British citizenship. He was the most consistent of the Impressionists in his dedicatio ...
, the Italian
Antonio Rotta.
File:Antonio Rotta - The Hopeless Case - Walters 37182.jpg, ''The Hopeless Case'' (1855) by Antonio Rotta
File:Joseph Mallord William Turner - Raby Castle, the Seat of the Earl of Darlington - Walters 3741.jpg, ''Raby Castle, the Seat of the Earl of Darlington'' (1817) by Joseph Mallord William Turner
Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbule ...
File:Asher Brown Durand - The Catskills - Walters 37122.jpg, '' The Catskills'' (1859) by Asher Brown Durand
Asher Brown Durand (August 21, 1796, – September 17, 1886) was an American painter of the Hudson River School.
Early life
Durand was born in, and eventually died in, Maplewood, New Jersey (then called Jefferson Village). He was the eight ...
.
File:Alfred Stevens - News from Afar - Walters 37183.jpg, ''News from Afar'' (1860) by Alfred Stevens, (Exhibition: " Salute to Belgium, 1980)
File:Claude Monet - Springtime - Google Art Project.jpg, '' Springtime'' (1872) by Claude Monet
Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. Durin ...
.
File:Edouard Manet - At the Café - Walters 37893.jpg, '' The Café-Concert'' (ca. 1879) by Édouard Manet
Édouard Manet (, ; ; 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism.
Bo ...
.
File:Alfred Sisley - The Terrace at Saint-Germain, Spring - Walters 37992.jpg, '' The Terrace at Saint-Germain, Spring'' (1875) by Alfred Sisley
Alfred Sisley (; ; 30 October 1839 – 29 January 1899) was an Impressionist landscape painter who was born and spent most of his life in France, but retained British citizenship. He was the most consistent of the Impressionists in his dedicatio ...
.
File:Léon Bonvin - Still Life on Kitchen Table with Celery, Parsley, Bowl, and Cruets - Walters 371504.jpg, Léon Bonvin - ''Still Life on Kitchen Table with Celery, Parsley, Bowl, and Cruets'' - Walters 371504
Drawings
File:Félicien Rops - Confessional, Toledo - Walters 372804.jpg, ''Confessional, Toledo'', by Félicien Rops
Félicien Victor Joseph Rops (7 July 1833 – 23 August 1898) was a Belgian artist associated with Symbolism and the Parisian Fin-de Siecle. He was a painter, illustrator, caricaturist and a prolific and innovative print maker, particularly in ...
, 1889
File:Adolphe-René Lefevre - Courtier Standing by a Column - Walters 371630.jpg, ''Courtier Standing by a Column'', by Adolphe-René Lefèvre, ca. 1860
File:Théodore Henri Mansson - Street Scene with Gothic Building - Walters 371629.jpg, ''Street Scene with Gothic Building'', by Théodore Henri Mansson Théodore is the French version of the masculine given name Theodore.
Given name
* Théodore Caruelle d'Aligny (1798–1871), French landscape painter and engraver
*Théodore Anne (1892–1917), French playwright, librettist, and novelist
* Théo ...
, 1845
Buildings
Charles Street – Old Main Building (1905–1909)
![Interior Walters Art Museum](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Interior_Walters_Art_Museum.jpg)
Henry Walters' original gallery was designed by architect
William Adams Delano
William Adams Delano (January 21, 1874 – January 12, 1960), an American architect, was a partner with Chester Holmes Aldrich in the firm of Delano & Aldrich. The firm worked in the Beaux-Arts tradition for elite clients in New York City, Long ...
and erected between 1904 and 1909, facing South Washington Place (at the northwest corner with West Centre Street) and attached by an overhead bridge/passageway across the back alley from his adjacent townhouse/mansion to the north on West Mount Vernon Place (facing the
Washington Monument
The Washington Monument is an obelisk shaped building within the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, once commander-in-chief of the Continental Army (1775–1784) in the American Revolutionary War and th ...
to the northeast). Its exterior was inspired by the Renaissance-revival-style
Hôtel Pourtalès in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
and its interior was modeled after the 17th-century "Collegio dei Gesuiti" (now the
Palazzo dell'Università
A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whic ...
) built by the Balbi family for the
Jesuits
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders = ...
in
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...
. The arts of the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...
and
Baroque periods, French decorative arts of the 18th and 19th centuries, and manuscripts and rare books are now exhibited in this palazzo-style structure.
Centre Street Annex Building (1974)
Designed by the
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
firm of
Shepley, Bulfinch, Richardson & Abbott, in the
"Brutalist" poured-concrete style prevailing in the 1960s, (one of the few others in the region of this extremely modernistic style in the city – such as the recently razed
Morris A. Mechanic Theatre in downtown
Charles Center
Charles Center is a large-scale urban redevelopment project in central Baltimore's downtown business district of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Beginning in 1954, a group called the "Committee for Downtown" promoted a master plan for arresting th ...
on the southwest corner of Charles and Baltimore Streets from 1967), this annex building (which has several horizontal lines paralleled with features in the 1909 structure) to the west along West Centre Street and rear of the original main gallery, extending to Park Avenue, opened in 1974. It was substantially altered in 1998–2001 by another firm of Kallmann McKinnell and Wood, Architects, to provide a four-story glass atrium, with a suspended staircase at the juncture between the older and newer buildings with a new entrance lobby along Centre Street. The new lobby, which also provides easier ground-level handicapped access along with enhanced security provisions for both collections and visitors is also providing a café, an enlarged museum and gift store and a reference library. The
ancient
Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cov ...
,
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
,
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
,
Ethiopian
Ethiopians are the native inhabitants of Ethiopia, as well as the global diaspora of Ethiopia. Ethiopians constitute several component ethnic groups, many of which are closely related to ethnic groups in neighboring Eritrea and other parts of ...
, and 19th-century
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
an collections are housed in this building, with its large display walls and irregular corridors and galleries. Also here is the museum's famed art conservation laboratory, which is one of the oldest in the country.
Hackerman House (1850/1991)
This
Greek Revival
The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but a ...
style townhouse/mansion, one of the most elaborate in the city, was designed by famed local architect
John Rudolph Niernsee
John Rudolph Niernsee (May 27, 1814 – June 7, 1885) was an American architect. He served as the head architect for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B. & O.). Rudolph also largely contributed to the design and construction of the South Carolin ...
(1814–1885), and erected between 1848 and 1850 for Dr. John Hanson Thomas, was long regarded as the most "elegant" house along Mount Vernon Place or Washington Place. It sits on the southwest corner of the circle surrounding the
Washington Monument
The Washington Monument is an obelisk shaped building within the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, once commander-in-chief of the Continental Army (1775–1784) in the American Revolutionary War and th ...
and was later owned by the families Jencks and Gladding (and the house has been known as the Thomas-Jencks-Gladding Mansion). Considered in its premiere landmark municipal location to be used for Baltimore City's Official Mayor's Residence (similar to other major American cities mayor's mansions such as
Gracie Mansion
Archibald Gracie Mansion (commonly called Gracie Mansion) is the official residence of the Mayor of New York City. Built in 1799, it is located in Carl Schurz Park, at East End Avenue and 88th Street in the Yorkville neighborhood of Manhattan. ...
in a river-front park on
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
's east side of
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, facing the
East River
The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Quee ...
), when it was briefly acquired by the city in the late 1950s and then being considered to be razed for an unfortunately poorly-conceived and planned northern expansion of the Gallery engendered local preservationists' protests before being finally re-sold to the Gladding family of a well-known public-spirited local
Chevrolet auto dealership, who promised to restore and preserve the noted mansion.
Among the original owning family of the Thomas's distinguished guests of the mid-19th century were the
Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...
(eldest son of
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...
), the future
King Edward VII
Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910.
The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria a ...
(reigned 1901–1910); and
General Lajos Kossuth (1802–1894), the then famous
Hungarian freedom fighter, president of an early, brief Hungarian republic, veteran of the
European Revolutions of 1847–1848 and the "Father of modern
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...
". Since the mid-1980s when, the Thomas-Jencks-Gladding Mansion was reacquired by the city under Mayor
William Donald Schaefer
William Donald Schaefer (November 2, 1921 – April 18, 2011) was an American politician who served in public office for 50 years at both the state and local level in Maryland. As a Democrat, he was the 45th mayor of Baltimore from December 1 ...
(1921–2011), who served the city from 1971 to 1987, and future
governor of Maryland
The Governor of the State of Maryland is the head of government of Maryland, and is the commander-in-chief of the state's National Guard units. The Governor is the highest-ranking official in the state and has a broad range of appointive powers ...
(1987–1995) from the Gladding family with a donation by the mayor's loyal friend along with being a developer, industrialist and philanthropist,
Willard Hackerman, and transferred to the purposes of "The Walters". Since additional renovations with the addition of a connecting gallery with domed skylight and corridor constructed through the top of the old rear carriage house/garage to the south end of the house, and across the east–west alley to the old 1909 Main Building's north side. Reopened in 1991, the newly renamed "Hackerman House" has been devoted to The Walters' recently expanded holdings of
Asian art
The history of Asian art includes a vast range of arts from various cultures, regions, and religions across the continent of Asia. The major regions of Asia include Central, East, South, Southeast, and West Asia.
Central Asian art primarily c ...
. As "Thomas-Jencks-Gladding House", the building was designated a
Baltimore City Landmark in 1975.
Anti-Labor Hostility
Throughout 2021, director
Julia Marciari-Alexander
Julia Marciari-Alexander (born 1967) is an American art historian and curator who is director of the Walters Art Museum.
Marciari-Alexander began her career at the Yale Center for British Art, where she was curator of paintings and sculpture an ...
, advised by
union-busting
Union busting is a range of activities undertaken to disrupt or prevent the formation of trade unions or their attempts to grow their membership in a workplace.
Union busting tactics can refer to both legal and illegal activities, and can range ...
law firm Shaw Rosenthal LLP, refused to meet with Walters employees, stalling the advance of a wall-to-wall unionization effort. In October 2021, when directed by the
Baltimore City Council and Comptroller Bill Henry to meet with employees and allow a vote on unionization, Marciari-Alexander refused, claiming that meeting with her employees constitutes interference.
It was later stated that if the unionization effort was successful, workers would be represented by AFSCME Council 67, which would also represent workers at
Baltimore Museum of Art
The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, is an art museum that was founded in 1914. The BMA's collection of 95,000 objects encompasses more than 1,000 works by Henri Matisse anchored by the Cone Collection of ...
and
Enoch Pratt Free Library
The Enoch Pratt Free Library is the free public library system of Baltimore, Maryland. Its Central Library and office headquarters are located on 400 Cathedral Street (southbound) and occupy the northeastern three quarters of a city block bounded ...
.
Gallery
This is a list of selected works from the museum collection.
See also
*
Collaboration Between Walters Art Museum and Wikimedia Commons
*
Union busting
Union busting is a range of activities undertaken to disrupt or prevent the formation of trade unions or their attempts to grow their membership in a workplace.
Union busting tactics can refer to both legal and illegal activities, and can range ...
*
American Art Collaborative
The American Art Collaborative (AAC) is a consortium of 14 art museums in the United States, whose mission is the establishment of "a critical mass of linked open data (LOD) on the semantic web."
Membership
As of 2018, the 14 members were:
* Amo ...
*
Archimedes Palimpsest
*
Baltimore Museum of Art
The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, is an art museum that was founded in 1914. The BMA's collection of 95,000 objects encompasses more than 1,000 works by Henri Matisse anchored by the Cone Collection of ...
*
William Henry Rinehart
William Henry Rinehart (September 13, 1825 – October 28, 1874) was a noted American sculptor. He is considered "the last important American sculptor to work in the classical style."
Biography
The son of Israel Rinehart (1792–1871) and Mary ...
*
Peabody Institute
The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University is a private conservatory and preparatory school in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1857 and opened in 1866 by merchant/financier and philanthropist George Peabody (1795–1869) ...
*
George Peabody Library
The George Peabody Library is a library connected to the Johns Hopkins University, focused on research into the 19th century. It was formerly the Library of the Peabody Institute of music in the City of Baltimore, and is located on the Peabody c ...
*
Charles Street
*
Washington Monument
The Washington Monument is an obelisk shaped building within the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, once commander-in-chief of the Continental Army (1775–1784) in the American Revolutionary War and th ...
*
Parker Building (New York City)
The Parker Building was a 12-story office and loft structure completed in 1900 at the southeast corner of Fourth Avenue (later Park Avenue South) and 19th Street, in Manhattan, New York City. The edifice
occupied ground which was formerly the si ...
, earlier location of Walters' art collection
References
Additional sources
* ''The Walters Art Gallery, Guide to the Collections'', 1997, Scala Books,
*
* Gruelle, R. B., ''Collection of William Thompson Walters'' (Boston 1895)
* Bushnell, S. W., ''Oriental Ceramic Art Collections of William Thompson Walters'' (New York 1899)
External links
*
Walters Art Museum online collectionArchimedes Palimpsest Project Web Page*
Walters Art Museumwithin
Google Arts & Culture
*
{{Authority control
Art museums and galleries in Maryland
Museums in Baltimore
*
Mount Vernon, Baltimore
Asian art museums in the United States
Museums of ancient Greece in the United States
Museums of ancient Rome in the United States
Museums of Ancient Near East in the United States
Historic American Buildings Survey in Baltimore
Egyptological collections in the United States
Art museums established in 1934
1934 establishments in Maryland
Delano & Aldrich buildings
Neoclassical architecture in Maryland
Mount Vernon Place Historic District