Disk Brooch
Unknown Artist
ca. 500–600
Medium
Gold, wire, glass paste cabochons, copper alloy core
Dimensions
Overall: 1 5/16 x 3/8 in. (3.4 x 1 cm)
Classification
Metalwork-Gold
Culture
Frankish
Department
Medieval Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
Accession Number
17.191.143
Art Historical Context
This exquisite Disk Brooch, crafted by an unknown Frankish artisan around 500–600 CE, offers a glimpse into the opulent world of Merovingian Europe. The Franks, who rose to prominence in what is now France and Germany produced jewelry like this as both practical fasteners for cloaks and symbols of wealth and status. just 1 5/16 x 3/8 inches, its petite scale belies its grandeur, embodying the portable luxury of early medieval personal adornment. Forged with a copper alloy core and sheathed in shimmering gold, the brooch showcases sophisticated metalworking techniques. Delicate gold wire likel...