This triptych is remarkable for its completeness as well as for the high quality of its execution. At the center of the shrine is Crucifixion, with Christ before Annas on the bottom panel of the left wing, and the Bearing of the Cross above. On the right wing, the Agony in the Garden is at top, with the Entombment below. Above the center section are three medallions (the one on the left is a modern replacement) representing, from left to right: Saint Catherine, the Virgin and Child, and Saint George and the Dragon. The Annunciation appears on the large medallion below the Crucifixion. In addition to these carved appliqués and the silver figure of Christ at the top, the triptych is embellished with skillful engravings. Saints Andrew, Benedict, and Catherine appear on the base, while the Last Supper is depicted in the reverse of the central shrine, flanked by the Flagellation and the Arrest of Christ (left), and the Crown of Thorns and the Resurrection of Christ (right).
The inscription on the back and above the Last Supper —RUDBERTI ABBATIS PERSTO EGO IUSSO SUO (I stand by order of Abbot Rupert)—links the triptych to Abbot Rupert Keutzl of the Benedictine abbey of Saint Peter at Salzburg. The date 1494 appears three times on the object. Documents record a triptych made about this date by the goldsmith Pertoldus, but we cannot be certain that that work is the same as The Cloisters' triptych.
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Medium:Silver, gilded silver, mother-of-pearl, bone, and cold enamel
Dimensions:Overall (open): 27 3/8 x 9 7/8 x 7 1/4 in. (69.5 x 25.1 x 18.4 cm)
Classification:Metalwork-Silver
Credit Line:Gift of Ruth and Leopold Blumka, 1969
Object Number:69.226
Inscription: (on the molding above the Crucifixion): Inicium Sapiencie timor domini / ecc[superscript ci] [should be Inicium Sapientiae timor domini / ecclesistici] (fear of the Lord [is] the beginning of wisdom; Ecclesiastes [1])
(on the molding below the Crucifixion): 1494
(on banderole above the cross in Crucifixion scene): I[ESUS] N[AZARENUS] R[EX] I[UDAEORUM] (Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews [John 19:19])
(on the molding above the Last Supper): / Rudberti abbatis persto ego iussu [should be iusso] suo (I stand by the order of Abbot Rupert)
(on angel’s banderole in Annunciation scene): […] . m[aria] + u[xor] . ([…] Mary [sign of the cross] wife)
Marking: Dated: (on mother-of-pearl frame at bottom of angel holding Veil of Veronica; twice on base) 1494
Arms: of Abbot Rupert and of Monastery of St. Peter of Salzburg (on left of base) crossed keys in black enamel on silver-gilt [handles of keys at bottom] (on right side of base) red clover leaf on grey ground on upper right half; lower left grey clover leaf on ground
Marks: (above St. Catherine on base) Salzburg silver
From the Treasury of Benedictine Abbey of St. Peter, Salzburg; Oscar Bondy, Vienna (1930–confiscated by Nazi officials in 1938) ; restituted to his widow, Elisabeth Bondy, New York (by 1950) ; Ruth and Leopold Blumka, New York (until 1969)
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