The densely packed scenes on this large diptych depict an unusually rich array of New Testament events, apocryphal legends, and the lives of the saints. The sequence of events shown on the left panel beginning with the lower left row is: the Annunciation, Nativity, Adoration of the Magi, Presentation in the Temple, Resurrection, Descent into Hell, and Coronation of the Virgin. On the right panel, beginning with the lower row is: Saint Michael the Archangel and Saint John the Baptist, the martyrdom of Saint Thomas Becket, Crucifixion, Ascension, Holy Trinity, and Virgin nursing.
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Open Access
As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.
API
Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.
Use your arrow keys to navigate the tabs below, and your tab key to choose an item
Title:Diptych with Scenes of the Life of Christ and the Virgin, Saint Michael, John the Baptist, Thomas Becket, and the Trinity
Date:ca. 1350
Geography:Made in Cologne, Germany
Culture:German
Medium:Elephant ivory
Dimensions:Overall (open): 10 x 8 5/16 x 3/8 in. (25.5 x 21.1 x 0.9 cm)
Classification:Ivories-Elephant
Credit Line:The Cloisters Collection, 1970
Accession Number:1970.324.8a, b
[ Demotte Inc., Paris and New York] ; [ Brimo de Laroussilhe, Paris] ; [ L. Daguerre, Paris ] ; [ Paula de Koenigsberg ] ; Ernst and Marthe Kofler-Truniger, Lucerne (sold 1970)
Salon Nacional de Bellas Artes, Montevideo. "Exposición de obras de arte europeo (siglo XII al XIX) Pertenecientes a la colección Paula de Koenigsberg.," June 1945.
Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires. "Exposición de Obras Maestras. Colección Paula de Koenigsberg," October 1945.
Museo Municipal de Arte Hispano Americano. "Exposicion de arte gotico : coleccion Paula de Koenigsberg," 1947.
Museo Municipal de Arte Hispano Americano. "Exposición de Obras Maestras Siglos XII al XVII Coleccion Paula de Koenigsberg," May–July 1951.
Kunsthaus Zürich. "Sammlung E. und M. Kofler-Truniger, Luzern, Zürich," June 7–August 2, 1964.
Kunsthalle Köln. "Weltkunst au Privatbesitz," May 18–August 4, 1968.
Galerie des Beaux-Arts, Bordeaux. "Profil de Metropolitan Museum of Art de New York - de Ramses á Picasso," May 15–September 1, 1981.
Detroit Institute of Arts. "Images in Ivory: Precious Objects of the Gothic Age," March 9–May 11, 1997.
Walters Art Museum. "Images in Ivory: Precious Objects of the Gothic Age," June 22–August 31, 1997.
Cologne, Germany. Museum Schnütgen. "Glanz und Größe des Mittelalters: Kölner Meisterwerke aus den großen Sammlungen der Welt," November 4, 2011–February 26, 2012.
"Fourteenth Century Diptych in Ivory." Art News vol. 24 (May 1, 1926). p. 1, ill. only.
Seventh Loan Exhibition: French Gothic Art of the Thirteenth to Fifteenth Century. Detroit: The Detroit Institute of Arts, 1928. no. 57, ill.
"A Loan Exhibition of Gothic Art." The Bulletin of the Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, New York 2, no. 2 (November–December 1929). pp. 5–6.
Loan Exhibition of Gothic Art. Rochester, N.Y.: Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester, 1929. no. 25, ill. (unpaginated).
Morey, Charles Rufus. Gli oggetti di avorio e di osso del Museo Sacro Vaticano. Catalogo del Museo sacro della Biblioteca apostolica vaticana, Vol. 4. Vatican City: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1936. p. 38, fig. 36.
Exposición de obras maestras colección Paula de Koenigsberg. Buenos Aires: Museo Municipal de Arte Hispano Americano, 1945. no. 273, p. 38, pl. CXLVI.
Exposición de Obras de Arte Europeo (Siglo XII al XIX), Pertenecientes a la Colección Paula de Koenigsberg. Montevideo: Museo Nacional de Artes Visuale, 1945. no. 97, p. 29, pl. LXXVIII.
Exposición de arte gotico: Coleccion Paula de Koenigsberg. Buenos Aires: Museo Municipal de Arte Hispano Americano, 1947. no. 69, pl. XXXV.
Exposición de obras maestras siglos XII al XVII: Coleccion Paula de Koenigsberg. Buenos Aires: Museo Municipal de Arte Hispano Americano, 1951. no. 104, p. 24, pl. LVI.
Schnitzler, Hermann, ed. Große Kunst des Mittelalters aus Privatbesitz. Cologne: Museum Schnütgen, 1960. no. 28, pp. 23–24, pl. 18.
Bloch, Peter. "Sammlung E. und M. Kofler-Truniger, Luzern: Ausstellung im Kunsthaus Zürich vom 7. Juni bis 1. September." Kunstchronik 17 (October 1964). pp. 264–65, 280, fig. 6a.
Sammlung E. und M. Kofler-Truniger, Luzern: Ausstellung. Zurich: Kunsthaus Zürich, 1964. no. 725, p. 78, pl. 71.
Lasko, Peter. "A Notable Private Collection." Apollo 79, no. 28 (June 1964). ill. on cover.
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. 62, p. 22.
Bloch, Peter, Hermann Schnitzler, Charles Ratton, and W. F. Volbach. "Mittelalterliche Kunst der Sammlung Kofler-Truniger, Luzern." Aachener Kunstblätter 31 (1965). pp. 21–22.
Kunsthalle Köln. Weltkunst aus Privatbesitz. Cologne: Museen der Stadt Köln, 1968. no. D 11, (unpaginated).
Metropolitan Museum of Art. "One Hundred First Annual Report of the Trustees for the Fiscal Year July 1, 1970 through June 30, 1971." Annual Report of the Trustees of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 101 (1971). p. 21.
The New York Times. "Metropolitan Museum Acquires 13 Outstanding Medieval Ivories." The New York Times (December 1, 1972). p. 41.
Raggio, Olga, ed. Patterns of Collecting: Selected Acquisitions, 1965-1975; Explanatory Texts. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1975. p. 17.
Profil du Metropolitan Museum of Art de New York, de Ramsès à Picasso. Paris: Galerie des Beaux-Arts, Bordeaux, 1981. no. 63, pp. 64–65.
Barnet, Peter, ed. Images In Ivory: Precious Objects of the Gothic Age. Detroit: Detroit Institute of Arts, 1997. no. 42, pp. 200–1.
Little, Charles T. "Gothic Ivory Carving in Germany." In Images In Ivory: Precious Objects of the Gothic Age, edited by Peter Barnet. Detroit: Detroit Institute of Arts, 1997. no. 42, p. 83, detail ill. p. 80.
Barnet, Peter, and Nancy Y. Wu. The Cloisters: Medieval Art and Architecture. New York and New Haven: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2005. no. 55, pp. 92, 196.
Little, Charles T. "Kölner Elfenbeinschnitzereien der Gotik: viele offene Fragen." In Glanz und Größe des Mittelatters: Kölner Meisterwerke aus den großen Sammlungen der Welt, edited by Dagmar Täube, and Miriam Verena Fleck. München: Hirmer Verlag, 2011. pp. 83–85, fig. 1, 3, 4, 6.
Täube, Dagmar, and Miriam Verena Fleck, ed. Glanz und Größe des Mittelalters: Kölner Meisterwerke aus den großen Sammlungen der Welt. Munich: Hirmer Verlag, 2011. no. 27, pp. 272–73.
Barnet, Peter, and Nancy Y. Wu. The Cloisters: Medieval Art and Architecture. 75th Anniversary ed. New York and New Haven: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2012. p. 94.
Williamson, Paul, and Glyn Davies. Medieval Ivory Carvings, 1200–1550. Vol. 1. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 2014. pp. 301, 349.
Ciseri, Ilaria, ed. Gli avori del Museo nazionale del Bargello. Milan: Museo Nazionale del Bargello, 2018. p. 247.
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Museum's collection of medieval and Byzantine art is among the most comprehensive in the world, encompassing the art of the Mediterranean and Europe from the fall of Rome to the beginning of the Renaissance.