Beschreibung:

MEDIEVAL BRONZE 'GABRIEL AND MARY ANNUNCIATION' VESICA SEAL MATRIX 14th century AD A seal matrix with strap and loop to the reverse; intaglio design of a double arch with central balustered column and abbey buildings above, a winged male figure (Gabriel) in one arch addressing a facing robed female (Mary) in the other, a tonsured supplicant below with hands raised; to the border the Lombardic script legend 'MISS:EST GABRIEL AD MARI' (Gabriel is sent to Mary); accompanied by an impression and collector's relevant data cards. 6.73 grams, 31mm (1 1/4"). Very fine condition. Provenance An important London collection of ecclesiastical seals, acquired since the 1970s; found near Jervaulx Abbey, Yorkshire, UK. Footnotes The seal matrix was found close to Jervaulx Abbey, Yorkshire, one of the most important Cistercian abbeys of northern England (founded in 1156); it was dissolved in 1537 under Henry VIII, and its last abbot, Adam Sedbar, was hanged for his part in the 'Pilgrimage of Grace', a local revolt in 1536 protesting against Henry's break with the Roman Catholic Church. The seal depicts the Annunciation, whereby the archangel Gabriel was sent to Mary to inform her that she was to become the mother of the Son of God; the Annunciation is the subject of a religious motet called 'Missus est Gabriel' dating from 1542 and was a key theme in many examples of medieval Christian art.