Design for a Pendant with IHS Monogram 1609

Curator: Here we have "Design for a Pendant with IHS Monogram," a pen drawing and engraving from 1609 by Master P.R.K., currently residing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Editor: Intricate. My first impression is of complex ornamentation surrounding some obscured core—like visual code that requires decoding. What jumps out at you? Curator: Precisely. The interlocking forms create a fascinating tension. Notice how the dense, patterned infill of the 'IHS' contrasts with the airy, scrolling framework surrounding it. The balance and imbalance produce dynamism. Editor: Let's talk about this "IHS." I notice little scenes, little figures. I bet most people don't know what that is today. Can you give context? Curator: Certainly. The IHS monogram is a Christogram, a symbol for Jesus's name derived from the first three letters of the Greek name for Jesus. The images beneath may tie into specific iconography related to redemption or saintly emblems—a cultural puzzle. Editor: What is it doing in jewelry? It is such a small devotional picture. Would everyone see it, or would it be hidden in the open by the noble with a deep faith? Curator: Well, we have to remember pendants like this often served dual functions—as adornment, yes, but also as expressions of faith and status. These early pendants were a mix of declaration of religious piety mixed with early personal display of wealth. Editor: How interesting that religious expression was worn as much as lived back in that period. How the elites carried that message into public and personal lives! Thanks to that tension between ornament and belief, something made centuries ago still speaks to a modern audience. Curator: Agreed. By recognizing the artist's clever manipulation of positive and negative space, symmetry, and symbol, we begin to approach, if not unlock, this emblem's power.