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Artist/Maker
Giotto di Bondone
(Italian, 1267 - 1337)
Photographer
Unknown artist
Date1875-1900
MediumAlbumen print
DimensionsOverall: 9 3/4 × 7 1/2 in. (24.8 × 19.1 cm)
Credit LineGift of James Garfinkel, Class of 1980; Transferred from the Art History Department
Object numberS2018.2.405
Not on view
DescriptionPhotograph of a relief from the west side of the Campanile: Tubalcain (lower register), 1334-37. This relief is one of the seven 'discoverers of the crafts' in the lower register of the socle of the Campanile, of which four are on the west side.
Tubalcain is mentioned in the Bible, in Genesis 4:22, as the first blacksmith. He is stated as the "forger of all instruments of bronze and iron". A descendant of Cain, he was the son of Lamech and Zillah. Tubalcain was the brother of Naamah and half-brother of Jabal and Jubal.
The relief represents a smithy scene with a man clothed in a long garment with a leather apron covering his lap to protect him from sparks. With a pair of tongs he holds the piece he is working on over the forge, which is fanned by the bellows behind him. Although the scene is contemporary, the man does not have the appearance of a contemporary smith. His hair and beard, influenced by models from antiquity, are in effect identifying attributes that place him in the dim past of ancient Greek or biblical myths of humanity's beginnings. He is Tubal Cain, the biblical metalworker descended from Cain to whom was attributed the invention of metalworker's craft (Source: https://www.wga.hu/html_m/p/pisano1/andrea/2campani/1_west/west_lo6.html, accessed 6/20/2023).
Collections
Additional Details
Provenance
2018: Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art, by transfer from the Art History Department;
likely by 1985 - 2018: Hamilton College (Art History department), by gift of James Garfinkel;
c. 1981-85: James Garfinkel, likely by purchase at auction in London.
likely by 1985 - 2018: Hamilton College (Art History department), by gift of James Garfinkel;
c. 1981-85: James Garfinkel, likely by purchase at auction in London.
Markings
Recto, lower left: "2003"
Inscribed
Recto, bottom margin: "I.A N.9 Firenze- Campanile del duomo. Tubulcain o l'arte di lavorare I metalli (Giotto e A Pisano)"
Unknown artist
Date: c. 883-859 BCE
Medium: Gypsum with remnants of red pigment
Object number: 1868.5
Nicario Jiménez Quispe
Date: c. 1992
Medium: Wood and boiled potato and gypsum powder paste with paint
Object number: 2024.6
Henry Moore
Date: 1946
Medium: Pencil, wax crayon, coloured crayon, wash, pen and ink, chinagraph on paper
Object number: 1996.15.39
William C. Palmer
Date: c. 1940
Medium: Ink, wash, and graphite on paper
Object number: WCP.XXX.15
Christoph Jamnitzer
Date: published 1610 (possibly printed later)
Medium: Engraving
Object number: 1928.11
Antonio da Trento
Date: c. 1527-1531
Medium: Chiaroscuro woodcut from two blocks (pale green and black)
Object number: 1992.24
Unknown artist
Date: 1875-1900
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Object number: S2018.2.137
Augustus Rockwell
Date: 1865
Medium: Oil on canvas
Object number: 1873.2
William C. Palmer
Date: 1938
Medium: Ink and graphite on paper
Object number: WCP.XXX.38
William C. Palmer
Date: 1953
Medium: Crayon and graphite on paper
Object number: WCP.XXX.32
William C. Palmer
Date: 1925-26
Medium: Graphite, crayon, watercolor and ink on paper
Object number: WCP.XXX.23