Jewelry: The Secret Language in Portraits of Power

Feb 19, 2019

Stellene Volandes joins Jonquil O’Reilly, Vice President, Specialist, Head of Sale for Old Master Paintings at Christie’s, Stephanie L. Herdrich, Ph.D., Assistant Curator of American Painting and Sculpture, The American Wing, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Diana Singer, President, American Society of Jewelry Historians, Owner, Abbott & Austin Estate Jewels.

A lively and entertaining investigation into how artists have used jewelry as signifiers of wealth in portraiture, from Queen Elizabeth I mounds of pearls to the subtler pieces in Sargent’s depictions of the heiresses of the Gilded Age. It’s the history of ostentation and discretion and back again.

This program is sponsored by Christie's.

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