Made as an object of private devotion for an affluent patron, this triptych is a virtuoso example of Parisian goldsmiths' art of the early fifteenth century. Christ, the group of mourners, and the soldiers on the central panel are reliefs of uncolored silver. By contrast, the two thieves in the gilded background, as well as the Carrying of the Cross and Christ Disrobed on the wings, are rendered in pointillé (stippling). In this technique, the goldsmith's hammer hits a very fine stamp repeatedly into the metal ground, leaving a multitude of indentations. Their varying thickness and concentration establish shadows, depth, and the overall legibility of the composition. The refinement and the difficulty involved (this method allows no correction) appealed greatly to members of the Valois court, who were the principal commissioners of such objects.
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This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.
Wings, exterior: The Annunciation
Wing, left interior: The Bearing of the Cross. Center: the Virgin, Saint John and the three Maries.
Central panel: the Virgin, Saint John and the Three Maries (left); the Crucifixion; the Soldiers Casting Lots (right)
Wing, right interior: the Rending of Garments
Detail, the Crucifixion
Detail, the Virgin, Saint John and the Three Maries
Detail, the Soldiers Casting Lots
Detail, the Rending of Garments
Detail, a Thief
Detail, a Thief
Detail, the Bearing of the Cross
Artwork Details
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Title:Triptych with the Way to Calvary, the Crucifixion, and the Disrobing of Jesus
Date:ca. 1400–1420
Culture:Netherlandish or French
Medium:Gilded copper, silver and paint
Dimensions:Overall (open): 9 3/4 x 16 1/2 x 3/4 in. (24.8 x 41.9 x 1.9 cm) Overall (closed): 9 3/4 x 8 3/8 x 1 9/16 in. (24.8 x 21.2 x 3.9 cm)
Classification:Metalwork-Silver
Credit Line:Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
Object Number:17.190.369
Inscription: (interior, center panel, on top of cross): I[esus] N[azarenus] R[ex] I[udaeorum] (Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews [John 19:19])
(exterior, right panel, on scroll): AVE . MARIA . GRACIA [should be GRATIA] . PLENA . DOMIN[U]S [TECUM EST] [symbol] (Hail Mary full of grace the Lord [is with you] [Luke 1:28])
J. Pierpont Morgan (American), London and New York (until 1917)
Indianapolis Museum of Art. "Treasures from the Metropolitan: catalogue of the inaugural exhibition of the Indianapolis Museum of Art," October 25, 1970–January 3, 1971.
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.
Germanisches Nationalmuseum. "Spiegel der Seligkeit: Privates Bild und Frömmigkeit im Spätmittelalter," May 31–October 8, 2000.
Fabriano. Spedale di Santa Maria del Buon Gesù. "Gentile da Fabriano e l'altro Rinascimento," April 21–July 23, 2006.
Groeninge Museum. "Van Eyck to Durer: Early Netherlandish Painting and Central Europe 1430-1530," October 28, 2010–January 30, 2011.
Steingräber, Erich. "Nachträge und Marginalien zur französisch-niederländischen Goldschmiedekunst des frühen 15. Jahrhunderts." Anzeiger des Germanischen Nationalmuseums (1969). pp. 30–35, fig. 2.
Heusinger, Christian von. "Gepunzte und gestochene Platten in Braunschweig: Ein Beitrag zur Kunstgeschichte der Graphik." Festschrift zur Ausstellung: Brunswiek 1031 Braunschweig 1981. Die Stadt Heinrichs des Löwen von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart (1981). pp. 225–26, fig. 1–2.
Pushkin Museum and State Hermitage Museum. Dekorativno-Prikladnoe Iskusstvo ot Pozdnei Antichnosti do Pozdnei Gotiki: Kratkii Katalog Vystavki. Moscow: Pushkin Museum, 1990. no. 75, p. 13.
State Hermitage Museum. Dekorativno-Prikladnoe Iskusstvo ot Pozdnei Antichnosti do Pozdnei Gotiki. St. Petersburg: State Hermitage Museum, 1990. no. 75, pp. 156–57.
Alexander, Jonathan J. G. "A Metalwork Triptych of the Passion of Christ in The Metropolitan Museum, New York." Wiener Jahrbuch für Kunstgeschichte 46/47, pt. 1 (1993–1994). pp. 27–36, fig. 1, ill. p. 377.
Steyaert, John W. Late Gothic Sculpture: The Burgundian Netherlands. Ghent: Ludion Press, 1994. p. 320, fig. 95a.
Steyaert, John W., ed. Laat-gotische beeldhouwkunst in de Bourgondische Nederlanden. Ghent: Ludion, 1994. p. 320, fig. 95a.
Kammel, Frank Matthias, and Andreas Curtius. Spiegel der Seligkeit: Privates Bild und Frömmigkeit im Spätmittelalter. Nuremberg: Germanisches Nationalmuseum, 2000. no. 97, pp. 271–272.
Laureati, Laura, and Lorenza Mochi Onori, ed. Gentile da Fabriano and the Other Renaissance. Milano: Electa, 2006. no. II.4, pp. 94–95, 104–105.
Laureati, Laura, and Lorenza Mochi Onori, ed. Gentile da Fabriano e l'altro Rinascimento. Milano: Electa, 2006. no. II.4, pp. 94–95, 104–105.
Laureati, Laura, and Lorenza Mochi Onori, ed. Cimabue and Early Renaissance Devotional Painting. Milan: Electa, 2006. no. 2.4, pp. 104–105.
Borchert, Till-Holger, ed. Van Eyck to Dürer: Early Netherlandish Painting and Central Europe, 1430–1530. Tielt, Belgium: Groeninge Museum, 2010. no. 182, pp. 356–357.
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