The altarpiece depicts episodes from the life of Christ (central section), of Saint John the Baptist (left), and of Saint John the Evangelist (right). The appearance of Franciscan friars in the Crucifixion scene suggests that the altarpiece was originally commissioned for a Franciscan community. The Embriachi family, which ran successful workshops in Venice and Florence, produced numerous carvings in bone, ivory, and other materials.
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This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.
Left section: Scenes from the Life of Saint John the Baptist
Artwork Details
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Title:Altarpiece
Artist:Baldassare degli Embriachi (Italian, active 1390–1409)
Date:ca. 1390–1400
Culture:North Italian
Medium:Bone framed with intarsia and horn, traces of paint and gilding
Dimensions:without wooden base: 50 1/2 x 60 1/2 in. (128.3 x 153.7 cm)
Classification:Bone
Credit Line:Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
Accession Number:17.190.489
Giovanni Battista Cagnola, Milan (sold 1912); J. Pierpont Morgan (American), London and New York (1912–1913)
Jeannez, Edouard. Inventaire descriptif et raisonné des principaux objets d'art: ayant figuré a l'exposition rétrospective forézienne de Roanne 1890. Roanne: Imprimerie du Roannais Illustré, 1890. p. 9, pl. 4–5.
Exposition rétrospective forézienne: beaux-arts – arts décoratifs, 5–29 juin 1890. Catalogue. Roanne: Imprimerie Chorgnon et Bardiot, 1890. no. 58, p. 15, ill.
Leriche, Ernest. L'exposition rétrospective forézienne de Roanne en 1890. Extract of 'Roannais illustré'. Roanne: Imprimerie Chorgnon et Bardiot, 1891. pp. 30–31.
Molinier, Emile. Les Ivoires. Histoire générale des arts appliqués à l'industrie, Vol. 1. Paris: Librairie Centrale des Beaux-Arts, 1896. p. 206 n. 1.
Molinier, Emile. Catalogue des Ivoires. Paris: Musée du Louvre, 1896. p. 227.
Schlosser, Julius von. "Die Werkstatt der Embriachi in Venedig." Jahrbuch der Kunsthistorischen Sammlungen des Allerhöchsten Kaiserhauses 20 (1899). p. 241.
Venturi, Adolfo. Storia dell'arte italiana: Volume 4, La scultura del Trecento e le sue origini. Milan: Ulrico Hoepli, 1906. p. 891.
Ditchfield, Peter Hempson. "Art in Ivory." Christian Art: An Illustrated Monthly Magazine 2, no. 3 (December 1907). pp. 146–48.
Breck, Joseph, and Meyric R. Rogers. The Pierpont Morgan Wing: A Handbook. 2nd ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1929. p. 119.
Toesca, Pietro. Il Trecento. Storia dell'arte italiana, Vol. 2. Turin: Unione Tipografico–Editrice Torinese, 1951. p. 924.
Rodney, Nanette B. "Salome." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., 11, no. 7 (March 1953). ill. p. 192.
Dell'Acqua, Gian Alberto, ed. Embriachi, il trittico di Pavia. Milan: Franco Maria Ricci, 1982. p. 12.
Merlini, Elena. "I trittici portatili della Bottega degli Embriachi." Jahrbuch der Berliner Museen 33 (1991). p. 50.
Randall Jr., Richard H. The Golden Age of Ivory: Gothic Carvings in North American Collections. New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1993. p. 141.
Tomasi, Michele. "Baldassarre Ubriachi, le maître, le public." Revue de l'Art 134 (2001). p. 52.
Tomasi, Michele. "Gli Embriachi: l'«avorio» per il mercato." In Artifex bonus: Il mondo dell'artista medievale, edited by Enrico Castelnuovo. Grandi opere. Rome: Editori Laterza, 2004. p. 208.
Tomasi, Michele. "Le retable des Embriachi du musée du Louvre: datation, fonction, destination, iconographie." Revue des Musées de France: Revue du Louvre 55, no. 3 (2005). p. 53, fig. 10.
Tomasi, Michele. Monumenti d'avorio: I dossali degli Embriachi e i loro committenti. Studi, Vol. 16. Pisa: Edizioni della Normale, 2010. pp. 9, 12, 47–52, 126, 146–47, 146–47, 149, 155–56, 158 n. 194, 159–60, 179, 183 n. 39, 188–90, 200–204, 210–11, 231, 245–49, 250–51, 254, 262, 341, 354, 356–57, 358, 365; fig. 3, 20, 40, 63, 66–67, 75, 77.
Williamson, Paul, and Glyn Davies. Medieval Ivory Carvings, 1200–1550. Vol. 2. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 2014. pp. 755–58.
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