Crozier Head with the Crucifixion and the Virgin and Child

As the attribute of bishops, abbots, and abbesses, croziers signified their owners’ leadership within the Church because of their resemblance to shepherds’ crooks. Carried in procession or used in liturgical rituals, croziers were meant to be seen by the proverbial Christian "flock," including laypeople, clerics, and monastics. Viewed just above eye level from either side, crozier heads are distinctively flat and, in the case of ivory examples, are usually carved from a single, thick panel of elephant ivory. Although the bottom of this beveled ivory crozier head broke off at some point during its long history, it would have extended straight down from the side of the volute and widened at the base in order to slot into a long shaft composed of additional segments of ivory, bone, or wood.

Much like the double-sided ivory diptychs that were serially produced in fourteenth-century France for private devotion, ivory crozier heads from this period usually represent two complementary religious images on either side of the volute, back to back. This example encloses two of the most popular devotional images: the Crucifixion flanked by the Virgin Mary and St. John the Evangelist, and the Virgin and Child flanked by two angels. The figures’ elegantly curving postures and emotive gestures typify French sculpture during this period. They embody, on the one hand, the suffering of Jesus and his followers during the Crucifixion, and on the other, the loving bond between the infant Jesus and his mother. The leaves on the exterior of the volute are also typical of this crozier group and probably reference the biblical Tree of Life (also known by the Latin term lignum vitae).

Because only an elite group of elected religious leaders could carry croziers, they constituted a modest part of the market for ivory sculpture in fourteenth-century France with respect to the universal appeal of private devotional objects. While some crozier heads attributed to Parisian workshops include personalized details like donor portraits and patron saints (see acc. no. 17.190.164), this example adheres to a standard model appropriate for any potential owner.

Delicate elements carved in the round are now lost, including several arms and hands, the angels’ candles, and the right side of the cross. Tool marks, which are especially visible on the sleeves of the Virgin and St. John, offer some insights into the carver’s process. Traces of red paint are visible in the veils of both representations of Mary as well as in the angels’ wings and in the leaves encircling the volute. The angels’ hair also retains traces of gold, which might be original. When viewed from the opposite side of the crozier, the backs of their gilded heads double as halos for Mary and St. John.


Catalogue Entry by Nicole D. Pulichene, Andrew W. Mellon Curatorial and Research Collections Specialist, Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters, 2020–2022

Georges Hoentschel (French); J. Pierpont Morgan (American), London and New York (until 1917)

Royal Ontario Museum. "Seven Centuries of English Domestic Silver," January 22–March 8, 1956.

Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "The Middle Ages: Treasures from The Cloisters and The Metropolitan Museum of Art," January 18, 1970–March 29, 1970.

Chicago. Art Institute of Chicago. "The Middle Ages: Treasures from The Cloisters and The Metropolitan Museum of Art," May 16, 1970–July 5, 1970.

Pératé, André. Collections Georges Hoentschel: Ivoires, orfèvrerie religieuse, pierres. Vol. 2. Paris: Librairie Centrale des Beaux-Arts, 1911. no. 32, fig. XXV.

Koechlin, Raymond. Les Ivoires Gothiques Français: Volume I, Text. Paris: Editions Auguste Picard, 1924. no. 753, pp. 271, 274.

Koechlin, Raymond. Les Ivoires Gothiques Français: Volume II, Catalogue. Paris: Editions Auguste Picard, 1924. no. 753, p. 270.

Ostoia, Vera K. The Middle Ages: Treasures from the Cloisters and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1969. no. 65, pp. 142–143, 258.