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National Gallery of Art

  • Visit

    • Plan Your Visit
    • Accessibility
    • Visiting with Kids
    • Food and Drink
    • Shops
    • Tours, Guides, and Maps

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

    6th and Constitution Ave NW 
    Washington, DC 20565

    Ice Rink at the Sculpture Garden

    Step into a winter wonderland.

    Learn more

  • Exhibitions & Events

    • Exhibitions
    • Calendar
    • Kid-Friendly Events

    Featured exhibition:

    The Stars We Do Not See: Australian Indigenous Art

    Now on view

  • Art & Artists

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

    Artle

    A refreshed experience for our puzzle game

    Today's puzzle

Utility

  • Shop
  • Support

  • Visit

    • Plan Your Visit
    • Accessibility
    • Visiting with Kids
    • Food and Drink
    • Shops
    • Tours, Guides, and Maps

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

    6th and Constitution Ave NW 
    Washington, DC 20565

    Ice Rink at the Sculpture Garden

    Step into a winter wonderland.

    Learn more

  • Exhibitions & Events

    • Exhibitions
    • Calendar
    • Kid-Friendly Events

    Featured exhibition:

    The Stars We Do Not See: Australian Indigenous Art

    Now on view

  • Art & Artists

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

    Artle

    A refreshed experience for our puzzle game

    Today's puzzle

Utility

  • Shop
  • Support

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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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