Devotional Pendant in the Manner of Giuseppe Bruno Sicily, 17th century

Devotional Pendant in the Manner of Giuseppe Bruno.

Sicily (likely Messina), second half of the 17th century.

Measurements: 4.6 × 3.7 × 1 cm (excluding loose bail).

A finely enamelled devotional pendant in high carat gold, comprising a double-sided medallion of oval form, enriched with vibrant polychrome enamelwork. The obverse features a detailed enamel portrait of Saint Anthony of Padua, shown in the black habit of the Franciscan Order, holding a lily stem in his right hand and the Christ Child—or in this case, more symbolically, a blue globe—in his left. The saint stands in a stylised pastoral landscape with distant mountains rendered in translucent enamel tones. Radiating around the central plaque is a scalloped border comprising alternating floral motifs and putti heads, each enamelled in vivid hues within individual petal-shaped lobes.

The reverse of the pendant is set with a glazed locket compartment containing an exuberant bouquet of stylised tulips, aquilegia, and other exotic flowers in enamel, painted directly onto a domed gold ground. The enamelled surround mirrors the front in both form and palette, reinforcing the object’s symmetrical and decorative unity.

This richly ornamented pendant is executed in a manner closely aligned with the work of Giuseppe Bruno (active c.1652–1682), an enameller based in Messina whose workshop produced some of the most distinctive Sicilian goldsmiths’ work of the late Baroque period. His pieces are typified by radiant colouration, complex floral decoration, and the integration of devotional imagery with naturalistic ornament.

Comparisons:
A closely comparable enamelled pendant is held in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, described as ‘in the style of Giuseppe Bruno’ (accession no. 1285-1871). Another analogous example is preserved in the Royal Collection Trust (accession no. RCIN 441486), both sharing the hallmarks of the Messina school’s distinctive enamel palette and iconographic language.

Provenance:
Charles Van der Heyden, Rotterdam, 1979
Sotheby’s, European Sculpture & Works of Art, 8 July 2005, lot 73

Published:
J. Anderson Black, The Story of Jewellery: Jewelry and Precious Stones from the Dawn of Civilization to the Present, 1974
J. Anderson Black, A History of Jewels, 1981, p. 189
J. Anderson Black, A History of Jewelry: Five Thousand Years, 1981, p. 189