Fragment of a Panel with the Flight into Egypt

This ivory panel represents the flight of Joseph and Mary from Bethlehem to Egypt after the birth of Jesus. Mary, wears a flowing dress and mantle. She rides her donkey sidesaddle while holding her swaddled infant. Joseph, dressed in a long tunic and a conical Jewish cap, holds the donkey’s reins and raises his hand to the Virgin in a gesture of speech. The tree behind the Virgin and the green springs of plant beneath the donkey suggest the outdoor scene. Significant traces of paint are also to be seen in the rein, the folds of Mary’s garments, the borders of Joseph’s clothes, the tree, and the spandrels of the cusped arches above the scene. The five-petalled gold-leaf flowers behind the figures conform to fourteenth-century forms. The traces of paint thus may be original to the panel. The panel has suffered extensive damage. Most notably, it has been cut out of a larger panel, truncating the architectural members above the figural scene. The back preserves extensive traces of the glue, paper, and red fabric, and the alterations may have taken place when it was glued down to another surface.


The heavy alteration through cutting has made the original function of this carving difficult to ascertain with certainty. Ivory folding shrines like those in the collection (acc. nos. 17.190.201; 17.190.253; 30.95.115; 41.100.122) generally do not represent the scene of the Flight into Egypt. Instead, carvers favored the representation of Jesus’s infancy through the scene of the Holy Family in the manger and the presentation of Jesus to the temple priests in Jerusalem. Close inspection of the back, however, reveals the presence of a semi-circular gouge. This hole is likely the remnant of a hinge or a hook, suggesting that it was once attached to another ivory member and folded forward.

Further Reading:

John Lowden and John Cherry, Medieval Ivories and works of Art: The Thomson Collection at the Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto: Skylet Publishing/The Art Gallery of Ontario, 2008), pp. 59-61.

Paul Williamson and Glyn Davies, Medieval Ivory Carvings, 1200-1550, Part 1 (Victoria & Albert Museum Publishing, 2014), pp. 137-158.



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

Charles F. Iklé, New York (until 1963)

Forsyth, William H., and Margaret B. Freeman. "'Reports of the Departments,' Ninety-Fourth Annual Report of The Trustees for The Fiscal Year 1963-1964." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 23, no. 2 (October 1964). p. 80.

A Christmas Exhibition from the Collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Cloisters. Billings, Mont.: Yellowstone Art Center, 1985. no. 8.

Randall Jr., Richard H. The Golden Age of Ivory: Gothic Carvings in North American Collections. New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1993. no. 45f, pp. 5, 58.