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Open 10:00–5:00

National Gallery of Art

  • Visit

    • Plan Your Visit
    • Accessibility
    • Visiting with Kids
    • Food and Drink
    • Tours and Guides
    • Explore the Campus

    Open today 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
    Admission is always free

    6th and Constitution Ave NW 
    Washington, DC 20565

    Sculpture Garden Extended Hours

    Open late until 8:00 p.m. on select nights

    Through September 5

  • Exhibitions & Events

    • Exhibitions
    • Calendar
    • Kid-Friendly Events

    America’s 250th

    Celebrating American art and artists

  • Art & Artists

    • Artworks
    • Artists
    • Stories
    • Fun and Games
    • Educational Resources
    • Research

    Open Call

    Artists Reimagining the Collection

    Meet the 50 makers selected from more than 1,600 submissions

Utility

  • Support
  • Shop
  • Become a Member

  • Visit

    • Plan Your Visit
    • Accessibility
    • Visiting with Kids
    • Food and Drink
    • Tours and Guides
    • Explore the Campus

    Open today 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
    Admission is always free

    6th and Constitution Ave NW 
    Washington, DC 20565

    Sculpture Garden Extended Hours

    Open late until 8:00 p.m. on select nights

    Through September 5

  • Exhibitions & Events

    • Exhibitions
    • Calendar
    • Kid-Friendly Events

    America’s 250th

    Celebrating American art and artists

  • Art & Artists

    • Artworks
    • Artists
    • Stories
    • Fun and Games
    • Educational Resources
    • Research

    Open Call

    Artists Reimagining the Collection

    Meet the 50 makers selected from more than 1,600 submissions

Utility

  • Support
  • Shop
  • Become a Member

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  • Open 10:00–5:00
  • See extended hours

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    3. Armand Jean du Plessis
    Provenance

    Armand Jean du Plessis

    Richelieu Cardinal

    French, 1585 - 1642

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    Artwork

    Carved with highly polished, speckled, rust-colored stone, this wide, elongated urn is oval shaped when seen from above. We look onto one longer side in this photograph. The foot of the urn is carved into two lion’s feet, turned slightly outward at an angle from each other. Where the body of the urn meets the feet is an animal-like face with a prominent lower lip and lion-like nose. The lower portion of the urn curves up to create a shallow bowl shape before angling inward into a deeply carved cove above. Two scrolling handles, one on each narrow end of the urn, curve from the bulging bowl of the urn down to the feet. Each handle is decorated with a human face, seen in profile with mouth open, near where the handle meets the body of the urn. The lid is decorated with scrolls and foliation that flank a humanoid face with a gaping mouth, a broad nose, and wide-open eyes. Light glints off the smooth polished surface, and the urn sits against a charcoal-gray background.
    Florentine 16th Century, Urn with Grotesque Masks, c. 1580/1620, porphyry, Gift of Lewis Einstein, 1953.13.2

    Urn with Grotesque Masks

    Urn with Grotesque Masks

    Florentine 16th Century · c. 1580/1620 · porphyry ·  Accession ID  1953.13.2

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      6th St and Constitution Ave NW
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      4th St and Constitution Ave NW
      Washington, DC 20565

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      7th St and Constitution Ave NW
      Washington, DC 20565

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