Ring h x w: 1⅛ x 1in. (28 × 25 mm)
Intaglio I x w: ⅝ in. x ⅝ in. (19 × 16 mm)
Private collection
The octagonal bezel of this gold ring handsomely sets off a sapphire intaglio portrait of Frederick Ill of Habsburg (1415-1493), king of the Romans from 1440 to 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1452 to 1493. Around the monarch's crowned head is inscribed REX FREDERIC and the abbreviated motto A[ustriae| E[st| I[mperare] O[rbi| U[niverso], meaning "All the world is subject to Austrian rule." The intaglio was used as a signet ring to seal a document in 1442 now in the State Archives in Dresden.
Frederick was a great art collector and particularly appreciated gemstones, as did France's Valois kings and their Burgundian cousins who, during that same period, had their portraits carved into hard and precious stones. This intaglio might be attributed to a certain Heinrich Reweling, an engraver at Frederick's court. Combining the leader of Christendom's portrait, name, and motto, this sapphire testifies to the emperor's pride in his Habsburg heritage. As the only surviving signet ring of Holy Roman Emperor, this jewel is notable for a hoop formed from two lopped boughs of wood, a favorite naturalistic motif of international Gothic art, introduced into jewelry in the early fifteenth century.
This priceless gem belonged to a famous Milanese coin collector, Don Carlo Trivulzio (1715-
1789), and remained in his family until the collection was dispersed in the 1920s and 1930s.
LITERATURE
Aubin-Louis Millin, "Description du Musée Trivulzio, à Milan", Annales Encyclopédiques 6 (1817). pp. 265-266.
Hadrien Rambach, "A Manuscript Description in Krakow of the 'Trivulzio Museum' in Milan".
Studies in Ancient Art and Civilization 21(2017). pp. 261-274.
Joanna Hardy, Robert Violette (ed.), Sapphire: A Celebration of Colour (London: Thames & Hudson, 2021), p. 74.
EXHIBITION
2022: Gems: The Gift of the Earth, The National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo:
Nagoya City Science Museum, Nagoya, cat. pp. 140-141.
by LJK190995