Liturgical Comb Fragment

This rectangular ivory panel is the central section of a double-sided comb. While the comb’s teeth have been sawn off, their ends are still visible on the smooth, uncarved reverse and demonstrate that the robust, widely spaced teeth were on the top and the fine teeth were on the bottom. Double-sided twelfth-century combs often survive in cathedral treasuries and appear to have been used to ritually comb a bishop’s hair as a part of the ritual of ordination. For this reason, researchers often refer to these combs as "liturgical combs."

As is the case with many examples of combs to survive from this period, the luxurious material, fine workmanship, and the religious iconography of the current comb suggest that it served a ritual rather than daily hygienic function. On the obverse, two openwork panels of geometric interlace frame an image of The Tree of Jesse in high relief. This iconographic trope visualizes Isaiah XI. In this verse, the prophet uses the metaphor of a tree to predict that the Messiah would be born among the descendants of Jesse, a prophesy that medieval western Christians took to refer to Jesus. Following a widespread iconographic trope for this genealogical prophesy, the tree on the current comb arises from the navel of a prostrate Jesse, its interwoven branches serving as seats for the Virgin Mary and, at its apogee, a youthful Jesus. The enthroned Virgin Mary holds a banderole in her left hand and the feet of the infant Jesus in her right. Jesus, for his part, sits in a company of six doves, holds an orb in his left hand and blesses the onlooker with his right. A seventh dove representing the Holy Spirit descends from above. On the either side are standing figures of the prophet Isaiah, who testifies to the bloodline from which the Messiah would emerge, and a figure labeled Fulbert, who likewise holds a scroll whose bottom is held by Jesse below. Fulbert, was a twelfth-century Bishop of Chartres who was later canonized as a saint, and it is possible that he commissioned the comb of which this carving is a fragment.

The comb fragment preserves several inscriptions. The ones on the edges identify the figures, while those on the banderoles offer commentary on the significance of the scene. On the base, from left to right, are inscribed the names YSAIAS (Isaiah), IESSE (Jesse), and FULBERTS. The top edge is bears the motto SPS SCS (spiritus sanctus, the Holy Spirit.) On either side of the figure of Jesus are the Greek letters alpha and omega. The other inscriptions are on the banderoles carried by the figures of Isaiah, Mary, and Abbot Fulbert. The banderole of Isaiah is quote from Isaiah XI, "And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse." The banderole held by Mary at center reads, "behold the servant. Fulbert’s scroll reads, "The mother of God is a Virgin, the flower is the Son of God."

While the inclusion of Bishop Fulbert of Cologne indicates a Rhineland origin for thiscarving, stylistic evidence suggests that it was made a little further east, in a workshop associated with the Cathedral of Bamberg. Art historians have noted that manuscript illumination associated with this cathedral center shows many stylistic parallels. Especially similar are illuminations in The Psalter of Bamberg (Staatsbibliothek Bibl. 48), which is adorned with similar foliage motifs and energetic drapery. Also associated with Bamberg is a group of combs with openwork interlace borders similar to the present example, suggesting that this group of ivories emanated from the same workshop.

Further Reading:

Paul Williamson and Glyn Davies, Medieval Ivory Carvings, 1200-1550, Part II (London: V&A Publishing, 2014), pp. 609-631.

Charles T. Little, "An Ivory Tree of Jesse from Bamberg." Pantheon 33, no. 4 (April 1975), pp. 292–300.


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

Inscription: (along top of comb): SP[iritu]S / S[an]C[tu]S (Holy Spirit)

(along bottom of comb, labeling the figures above): YSAIAS / iESSE / FVLBERT[U]S (Isaiah, Jesse, Fulbert)

(on left of Christ child): A [Alpha]

(on right of Christ child): W [Omega]

(on Isaiah’s scroll): EG / RE / DI / ET . Vi[r]G / A : / [D]E / [R]A[DICE] (a branch will come out from the root)

(on Fulbert’s scroll): VI / RG / GA / D[E]I / GE / NIT / RIX / Vi[r]G / O : ÷ / FLOS / . 3 [should be virga dei genetrix virgo est flos filius eius] (the Virgin Mother of God is the branch, the flow His son [from Fulbert’s Epiphany Hymn])

(on the Virgin’s scroll): ECCE . A/ [N]CILLA [DOMINI] (Behold the handmaiden [of the Lord] [Luke 1:38])

L. Salavin, Paris ; [ Hôtel Drouot, Paris (November 22, 1972)] ; [ Hôtel Drouot ]

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Patterns of Collecting: Selected Acquisitions, 1965–1975," December 6, 1975–March 23, 1976.

Württembergisches Landesmuseum. "Die zeit der Staufer," March 26–June 5, 1977.

Collection de Monsieur L. Salavin (et divers): Sculptures et objets d'art du moyen âge. Paris: Hôtel Drouot, November 22, 1972. no. 48.

"Outstanding Recent Accessions." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., 31, no. 4 (Summer 1973). p. 232.

Metropolitan Museum of Art. "One Hundred First Annual Report of the Trustees for the Fiscal Year July 1, 1972 through June 30, 1973." Annual Report of the Trustees of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 103 (1973). p. 46.

Shirey, David L. "Met and Louvre Purchase Ivory." The New York Times (March 16, 1973). p. 30.

Little, Charles T. "An Ivory Tree of Jesse from Bamberg." Pantheon 33, no. 4 (April 1975). pp. 292–300, fig. 1, 9.

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. 19.

Haussherr, Reiner, ed. Die Zeit der Staufer: Geschichte, Kunst, Kultur; Volume 1, Text. Stuttgart: Württembergisches Landesmuseum, 1977. no. 629, pp. 490–91.

Haussherr, Reiner, ed. Die Zeit der Staufer: Geschichte, Kunst, Kultur; Volume 2, Plates. Stuttgart: Württembergisches Landesmuseum, 1977. fig. 435.

Gaborit-Chopin, Danielle. Ivoires du Moyen Age. Fribourg: Office du Livre, 1978. no. 192, pp. 132, 204.

Gaborit-Chopin, Danielle. Elfenbeinkunst im Mittelalter. Berlin: Gebr. Mann Verlag, 1978. no. 137, p. 205, fig. 150, ill. p. 132.

Adams, Roger J. "Isaiah or Jacob? The Iconographic Question on the Coronation Portals of Senlis, Chartres, and Reims." Gesta 23, no. 2 (1984). pp. 122, 123, fig. 10.

Fassler, Margot E. "Mary's Nativity, Fulbert of Chartres, and the Stirps Jesse: Liturgical Innovation circa 1000 and Its Afterlife." Speculum 75, no. 2 (April 2000). pp. 430–31, fig. 5.

Gaborit-Chopin, Danielle. Ivoires Médiévaux, Ve-XVe siècle. Paris: Musée du Louvre, 2003. no. 90, pp. 260–61.

Williamson, Paul. Medieval Ivory Carvings: Early Christian to Romanesque. London: V & A Publications, 2010. p. 308.