This imposing ivory originally formed the central part of a large cross (the arms are now missing) intended to be suspended from the neck. The strong sculptural forms and animated drapery relate closely to both Anglo-Saxon drawings and illuminated manuscripts. The pairing of Christ in Majesty with the Lamb of God on the reverse reflects contemporary interest in apocalyptic imagery, familiar from the Book of Revelation.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Pectoral with Christ and the Lamb of God and the Symbols of the Four Evangelists
Date:1000–1050
Geography:Made in near Saint-Omer
Culture:British or North French
Medium:Walrus ivory with gilt-copper sheets and copper alloy pin
Dimensions:Overall: 5 7/8 x 2 1/2 x 1 3/8 in. (14.9 x 6.3 x 3.5 cm) width with iron pins: 2 11/16 in. (6.9 cm)
Classification:Ivories-Walrus
Credit Line:Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
Object Number:17.190.217
François Quenson, Saint-Omer (before 1874); Charles Mannheim, Paris (by at least 1898); J. Pierpont Morgan (American), London and New York
Champs de Mars, Paris. "Exposition universelle d'art et d'industrie de 1867," April 1–November 3, 1867.
L'ancien hôtel de la Préfecture du Nord, Lille. "Exposition d'Objets d'Art Religieux," June 14–July 13, 1874.
Palais au Trocadéro, Paris. "Exposition universelle internationale de 1889. L'exposition rétrospective de l'art française au Trocadéro," May 6–1889.
Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux Arts de la Ville de Paris. "Exposition universelle de 1900. L'exposition retrospective de l'art francais," April 14–November 12, 1900.
Victoria and Albert Museum. "Ivory carvings in early medieval England, 700-1200," May 8–July 7, 1974.
State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts. "Dekorativno-Prikladnoe Iskusstvo ot Pozdnei Antichnosti do Pozdnei Gotiki," June–December 1989.
State Hermitage Museum, Leningrad. "Dekorativno-Prikladnoe Iskusstvo ot Pozdnei Antichnosti do Pozdnei Gotiki," February–July 1990.
Paris. Musée du Louvre. "La France romane au temps des premiers Capétiens, 987–1152," March 10, 2005–June 6, 2005.
Exposition Universelle de 1867 à Paris: Catalogue Général – Histoire du travail et monuments historiques. Vol. 1. Paris: E. Dentu, 1867. no. 1662, p. 103.
Linas, Charles de. "Un ivoire du XIe siècle." Revue de l'Art Chretien 12 (1868). pp. 70–72, ill. unnumbered pl.
Linas, Charles de. L'Histoire du travail à l'Exposition Universelle de 1867. Paris: Chez Didron, 1868. pp. 274–75, ill. opp. p. 274.
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Reusens, Edmond Henri Joseph, ed. Exposition Rétrospective d'Art Industriel, Bruxelles 1888: Catalogue Officiel. Brussels: P. Weissenbruch, 1888. no. 1399, p. 250.
Darcel, Alfred, and Emile Molinier, ed. Exposition rétrospective de l'art française au Trocadéro. Exposition universelle de 1889. Lille: L. Danel, 1889. no. 101, p. 15.
Molinier, Emile. "Exposition Rétrospective de l'art français au Trocadéro: 1. Le Moyen Âge." Gazette des Beaux-Arts, 3rd ser., 2, no. 2 (August 1889). p. 153.
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Catalogue officiel illustré de l'exposition retrospective de l'art français des origines à 1800. Exposition universelle de 1900. Paris: Lemercier & Cie., 1900. no. 39, p. 263.
Migeon, Gaston. Exposition rétrospective de l'art français en 1900. Paris: Exposition universelle de 1900, 1900. p. 15.
Migeon, Gaston. "L'exposition rétrospective de l'art français: Les ivoires." La Revue de l'Art Ancien et Moderne 7, no. 4 (June 1900). p. 456, ill.
Breck, Joseph. "Pre-Gothic Ivories in the Pierpont Morgan Collection." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, o.s., 15, no. 1 (January 1920). p. 16.
Breck, Joseph, and Meyric R. Rogers. The Pierpont Morgan Wing: A Handbook. 1st ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1925. p. 50.
Goldschmidt, Adolph. Die Elfenbeinskulpturen aus der romanischen Zeit, XI.-XIII. Jahrhundert. Vol. 4. Berlin: Bruno Cassirer, 1926. no. 1, pp. 1, 9, pl. I.
Longhurst, Margaret H. Catalogue of Carvings in Ivory. Vol. 1. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1927. p. 132.
Longhurst, M. H. "An English Ivory for South Kensington." The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs 53, no. 309 (December 1928). p. 321.
Breck, Joseph, and Meyric R. Rogers. The Pierpont Morgan Wing: A Handbook. 2nd ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1929. p. 50.
Baum, Julius. Die Malerei und Plastik des Mittelalters: Volume 2, Deutschland, Frankreich und Britannien. Wildpark-Potsdam: Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft Athenaion, 1930. pp. 223, 226, fig. 205.
Grodecki, Louis. Ivoires français. Arts, styles et techniques. Paris: Librairie Larousse, 1947. p. 59.
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Randall Jr., Richard H. "An Eleventh-Century Ivory Pectoral Cross." Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 25, nos. 3/4 (July–December 1962). pp. 159–71, fig. 30a–c.
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124 (1967). p. 173.
Beckwith, John. Ivory Carvings in Early Medieval England. London: Harvey Miller Publishers, 1972. no. 27, p. 123, fig. 63–64.
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Christiansen, Tage E. "Ivories: Authenticity and Relationships." Acta Archaeologica 46 (1975). pp. 121–22, fig. 2–3.
Gaborit-Chopin, Danielle. Ivoires du Moyen Age. Fribourg: Office du Livre, 1978. no. 141, pp. 15, 103–104, 197–98.
Howard, Kathleen, ed. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1983. no. 17, p. 344.
Backhouse, Janet, D.H. Turner, and Leslie Webster, ed. The Golden Age of Anglo-Saxon Art, 966–1066. London: British Museum, 1984. no. 124, pp. 121–22, fig. 124a–b.
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Lasko, Peter. "Anglo-Saxon or Norman? Observations on Some Ivory Carvings in the English Romanesque Exhibition at the Hayward Gallery." The Burlington Magazine 126, no. 973 (April 1984). pp. 216–21, fig. 53–54.
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Pushkin Museum and State Hermitage Museum. Dekorativno-Prikladnoe Iskusstvo ot Pozdnei Antichnosti do Pozdnei Gotiki: Kratkii Katalog Vystavki. Moscow: Pushkin Museum, 1990. no. 6, pp. 10, 18, fig. 6.
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