Depicted on the left is the Virgin crowned as the Queen of Heaven; the Crucifixion is shown on the right. The sun and moon held by angels above indicate the sorrow of all creation at the death of Christ. Adam appears at the foot of the cross and holds a chalice, the symbol of his new priesthood and redemption through the Crucifixion. The supple, complex drapery and fleshy faces relate to sculpture in Mainz.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Diptych with the Virgin and Child and the Crucifixion
Date:early 15th century
Geography:Made in possibly Mainz, Middle Rhine Valley, Germany
Culture:German
Medium:Ivory with metal mounts
Dimensions:Overall: 6 1/8 x 7 3/4 x 9/16 in. (15.6 x 19.7 x 1.5 cm)
Classification:Ivories
Credit Line:The Cloisters Collection, 1971
Accession Number:1971.49.3a, b
Antoine Joseph Essingh, Cologne (until d. 1864) ; his sale, J. M. Heberle, Cologne (September 18–29, 1865, pt. II, no. 870) ; [ Frédéric Spitzer Austrian d. 1890, Paris (sold 1893)] ; his posthumous sale, Chevallier & Mannheim, Paris (April 17–June 16, 1893, no. 140) ; Goldschmidt (from 1893) ; Mrs. Otto H. Kahn (Mogmar Art Foundation), New York (sold 1943, to Brummer) ; [ Brummer Gallery, Paris and New York (sold 1949) ; Joseph Brummer Collection sale, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York (April 20–23, 1949, no. 651) ; Ernst and Marthe Kofler-Truniger, Lucerne (1949?–sold 1971)
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.
Kunsthalle Köln. "Weltkunst au Privatbesitz," May 18–August 4, 1968.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Patterns of Collecting: Selected Acquisitions, 1965–1975," December 6, 1975–March 23, 1976.
State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts. "Dekorativno-Prikladnoe Iskusstvo ot Pozdnei Antichnosti do Pozdnei Gotiki," June–December 1989.
State Hermitage Museum, Leningrad. "Dekorativno-Prikladnoe Iskusstvo ot Pozdnei Antichnosti do Pozdnei Gotiki," February–July 1990.
Catalogue illustré de la collection des objets d'art qui composent le cabinet de Mr. Antione Jos. Essingh. Cologne: J. M. Heberle, September 18–29, 1865. no. 870, p. 90, (of pt. 2).
La Collection Spitzer: Antiquité, Moyen-Age, Renaissance. Vol. I. Mâcon: Imprimerie Protat Frères, 1890–1891. Ivoire 105, p. 61.
Spitzer, Frédéric, ed. La Collection Spitzer: Antiquité -- Moyen-Age -- Renaissance. Vol. 1. Paris: Maison Quantin, 1890–1893. Ivoire 105, p. 60.
Catalogue des objets d'art et de haute curiosité: antiques, du moyen-âge & de la renaissance: composant l'importante et précieuse Collection Spitzer. Vol. 1. Paris: Chevallier and Mannheim, April 17–June 16, 1893. no. 140, p. 26, pl. III.
Koechlin, Raymond. Les Ivoires Gothiques Français: Volume I, Text. Paris: Editions Auguste Picard, 1924. no. 828, pp. 300 n. 1, 301, 302 nn. 1–2, 6, 7.
Koechlin, Raymond. Les Ivoires Gothiques Français: Volume II, Catalogue. Paris: Editions Auguste Picard, 1924. no. 828, p. 306.
The Notable Art Collection belonging to the Estate of the Late Joseph Brummer. New York: Parke-Bernet Galleries, April 20–23, 1949. no. 651, p. 163.
L'Apocalypse: Tapisserien aus der Kathedrale von Angers. Basel: Kunsthalle Basel, 1951. no. 29, p. 28.
Schnitzler, Hermann, ed. Große Kunst des Mittelalters aus Privatbesitz. Cologne: Museum Schnütgen, 1960. no. 29, pp. 24–25, pl. 23.
Kauffmann, C. M. "The Kofler Collection: An important exhibition in Zürich." The Connoisseur 156, no. 627 (May 1964). p. 20, fig. 9.
Sammlung E. und M. Kofler-Truniger, Luzern: Ausstellung. Zurich: Kunsthaus Zürich, 1964. no. 756, p. 83.
Lasko, Peter. "A Notable Private Collection." Apollo 79, no. 28 (June 1964). pp. 464, 473, fig. 18, ill. p. 470.
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. 93, pp. 28–29.
Bloch, Peter, Hermann Schnitzler, Charles Ratton, and W. F. Volbach. "Mittelalterliche Kunst der Sammlung Kofler-Truniger, Luzern." Aachener Kunstblätter 31 (1965). p. 27.
Kunsthalle Köln. Weltkunst aus Privatbesitz. Cologne: Museen der Stadt Köln, 1968. no. D 15, fig. 9, (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.
Raggio, Olga, ed. "Medieval Art and the Cloisters." Notable Acquisitions (Metropolitan Museum of Art) no. 1965/1975 (1975). p. 156.
Raggio, Olga, ed. Patterns of Collecting: Selected Acquisitions, 1965-1975; Explanatory Texts. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1975. p. 17.
Pushkin Museum and State Hermitage Museum. Dekorativno-Prikladnoe Iskusstvo ot Pozdnei Antichnosti do Pozdnei Gotiki: Kratkii Katalog Vystavki. Moscow: Pushkin Museum, 1990. no. 52, pp. 12, 35, fig. 52.
State Hermitage Museum. Dekorativno-Prikladnoe Iskusstvo ot Pozdnei Antichnosti do Pozdnei Gotiki. St. Petersburg: State Hermitage Museum, 1990. no. 52, pp. 110–111.
Brennan, Christine E. "The Brummer Gallery and the Business of Art." Journal of the History of Collections 27, no. 3 (November 2015). p. 461.
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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