These earrings from the Museum of Modern Art (their gift shop, specifically) take their inspiration from the famed John Singer Sargent portrait titled Madame X, owned by the museum. In the painting, she wears a diamond crescent in her hair, her rendered in sterling silver or vermeil with white sapphires.

The museum notes, “The crescent moon headpiece atop Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau’s iconic profile informs these showstopping earrings, available in gold vermeil or sterling silver, and embellished with white sapphires. Gautreau, perhaps better known today as “Madame X,” was admired in Paris for her artful appearance, and John Singer Sargent (American, 1856–1925) hoped to enhance his reputation by painting the stylish socialite’s portrait in 1883–84. He emphasized his subject’s daring fashion sense by showing the right strap of her gown slipping from her shoulder; however, upon the picture’s exhibition at the Salon of 1884, it received more ridicule than praise. Sargent repainted the strap and kept the work for over 30 years. When he eventually sold it to The Met, he commented, “I suppose it is the best thing I have done,” but asked the Museum to disguise the sitter’s name.”

The earrings are priced at USD$145; $123 for museum members.