Diptychs and triptychs were private devotional objects that served as less elaborate substitutes for ivory tabernacles. This panel represents, in the upper register, the Crucifixion, with Longinus and Stephaton, flanked by the Virgin and St. John the Evangelist, executed in a larger scale. The Virgin and Child appear below, flanked by two angels. The architectural decoration allows the zones to be seen clearly while creating a rich decorative effect.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Central Panel of a Triptych
Date:ca. 1280–90
Culture:North French
Medium:Elephant ivory and paint
Dimensions:Overall: 6 5/8 x 4 1/16 x 3/8 in. (16.8 x 10.3 x 1 cm)
Classification:Ivories-Elephant
Credit Line:The Cloisters Collection, 1970
Accession Number:1970.324.6
This ivory panel is the central section of a triptych. When complete, two hinges on each side of the panel attached to a pair of wings, allowing them to close over the central panel when not in use. The front of the panel bears religious images in two registers. In the lower register, the crowned Mary stands with the infant Jesus between a pair of angels with candles. The upper register represents the Crucifixion, with Jesus on the cross in the center flanked by Longinus, who pierces him with his spear, and Stephaton, who offers him a sponge soaked in vinegar. Three arches adorned with trefoils and blind arcades surmount each register, with the upper arcade ascending into three crocketed gables adorned with rose windows. Peg holes on top of the panel demonstrate that separately carved pinnacles once adorned the corners. The back of the panel is smooth save for the top, where the carver has carved elements of the roof of the simulated structure. The smooth back reveals the vertical orientation of the grain, and it preserves three stickers and traces of old hardware. The ivory does not preserve any traces of paint. The ivory surface has become worn and pitted, and the faces of the figures are heavily abraded. In addition to the loss of the pinnacles, the sponge handle of Stephaton is broken and missing in places.
Several stylistic characteristics of the present triptych suggests its kinship to a larger folding triptych (inv. 175-1866) and a leaf from a folding diptych (inv. no. A.546-1910), both in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, and to a triptych in the Met’s collection (acc.no. 17.190.279a–e). The three ivory carvings share notable similarities in the method of representing figures and organizing the microarchitectural frames. Especially similar are the low-relief details in the spandrels of the arches, the attached pinnacles, and the cutout gables with rose windows. Art historians situate these carvings within a larger group called "The Soissons Group" that art historians generally consider among the earliest examples of Gothic carving in ivory.
Further Reading:
Raymond Koechlin, Ivoires Gothiques Français, Tome I (Paris: Auguste Picard, 1924): pp. 67-91.
Paul Williamson and Glyn Davies, Medieval Ivory Carvings, 1200-1550, Part 1 (London: Victoria and Albert Museum Publishing, 2014): pp. 167-169.
Catalogue Entry by Scott Miller, Andrew W. Mellon Curatorial and Research Collections Specialist, Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters: pp. 2020–2022
Herrmann Sax, Vienna (until 1893) ; his sale, H. O. Miethke, Vienna (December 4, 1893, no. 121) ; Emil Weinberger, Vienna (until 1929) ; his sale, C.J. Wawra, Vienna (October 22–24, 1929, no. 256) ; Oscar Bondy, Vienna (1930–confiscated by Nazi officials in 1938) ; restituted to his widow, Elisabeth Bondy, New York (by 1950) ; [ Blumka Gallery, New York] ; Ernst and Marthe Kofler-Truniger, Lucerne (sold 1970)
Kunsthalle Basel. "L'Apocalypse: Tapisserien aus der Kathedrale von Angers," January 8–March 4, 1951.
Kunsthaus Zürich. "Sammlung E. und M. Kofler-Truniger, Luzern, Zürich," June 7–August 2, 1964.
Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design. "Transformations of the Court Style: Gothic art in Europe, 1270 to 1330," February 2, 1977–February 27, 1977.
Koechlin, Raymond. Les Ivoires Gothiques Français: Volume I, Text. Paris: Editions Auguste Picard, 1924. no. 47, p. 85.
Koechlin, Raymond. Les Ivoires Gothiques Français: Volume II, Catalogue. Paris: Editions Auguste Picard, 1924. no. 47, p. 22.
Koechlin, Raymond. Les Ivoires Gothiques Français: Volume III, Plates. Paris: Editions Auguste Picard, 1924. no. 47, pl. XIX.
Schnitzler, Hermann, ed. Große Kunst des Mittelalters aus Privatbesitz. Cologne: Museum Schnütgen, 1960. no. 17, p. 17, pl. 14.
Sammlung E. und M. Kofler-Truniger, Luzern: Ausstellung. Zurich: Kunsthaus Zürich, 1964. no. 717, pp. 76–77, pl. 68.
Schnitzler, Hermann, Peter Bloch, and W. F. Volbach. Sammlung E. und M. Kofler-Truniger, Luzern: Skulpturen – Elfenbein, Perlmutter, Stein, Holz; europäisches Mittelalter. Vol. 1. Lucerne: Verlag Räber & Cie, 1964. no. 54, pp. 20–21.
"Departmental Accessions
." Annual Report of the Trustees of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 101 (July 1, 1970–June 30, 1971). p. 21.
Raggio, Olga, ed. Patterns of Collecting: Selected Acquisitions, 1965-1975; Explanatory Texts. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1975. p. 17.
Gillerman, Dorothy, ed. Transformations of the Court Style: Gothic Art in Europe, 1270 to 1330. Providence: Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, 1977. no. 14, pp. 52–53.
Randall Jr., Richard H. The Golden Age of Ivory: Gothic Carvings in North American Collections. New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1993. p. 53.
Guerin, Sarah Margaret. "'Tears of Compunction': French Gothic Ivories in Devotional Practice." PhD diss., University of Toronto, 2009. pp. 145, 360–61, fig. 3–20, pl. 10.
Lowden, John. Medieval and Later Ivories in the Courtauld Gallery: Complete Catalogue. London: Courtauld Gallery, 2013. p. 52.
Williamson, Paul, and Glyn Davies. Medieval Ivory Carvings, 1200–1550. Vol. 1. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 2014. p. 167.
Musée du Louvre Antoine-Köning, Élisabeth. "Quatre Ivoires Gothiques de L'Ancienne Collection Kofler-Truniger." La Revue des Musées de France: Revue du Louvre 3 (2019). p. 11, fig. 1.
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