Narcissus at the Source ca. 1600 Christoph Jamnitzer Visually rich, narratively dense, and rendered with exquisite craftsmanship, this gilded silver plaque was likely meant to adorn a box or cabinet. Small caskets decorated with precious metal plaques with iconographically, symbolically, or thematically related subjects were a specialty of the Jamnitzer family. Four consecutive generations of these Nuremburg goldsmiths reached the apex of their skill in Christoph Jamnitzer (1563–1618), grandson of famed 16th-century master Wenzel Jamnitzer (1507/8–1585). This relief combines several episodes f

Narcissus at the Source ca. 1600 Christoph Jamnitzer Visually rich, narratively dense, and rendered with exquisite craftsmanship, this gilded silver plaque was likely meant to adorn a box or cabinet. Small caskets decorated with precious metal plaques with iconographically, symbolically, or thematically related subjects were a specialty of the Jamnitzer family. Four consecutive generations of these Nuremburg goldsmiths reached the apex of their skill in Christoph Jamnitzer (1563–1618), grandson of famed 16th-century master Wenzel Jamnitzer (1507/8–1585). This relief combines several episodes from Ovid’s story of Narcissus from his famous text published in 8 , the Metamorphoses, depicted as a continuous narrative within a unified pictorial space. In the background is Narcissus, as he is first described by Ovid, seen through the eyes of his admirer, the nymph Echo, who sees him hunting deer in the forest, with horn raised and hounds in pursuit. In the midground is Echo who follows Narcissus unnoticed, and in the foreground, the beautiful youth approaches his fateful pool. Gazing down, he becomes infatuated with his own reflection and cannot leave the water’s side, doomed to die of unrequited love as punishment for not having reciprocated the love of Narcissus at the Source. German, Nuremburg. ca. 1600. Cast, chased, engraved and gilded silver. Metalwork-Silver

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