Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Ivories of the So-Called Grado Chair: Wedding at Cana
Not on view
The original use and arrangement of these fourteen ivories of the So-called Grado Chair with scenes from the life of Christ, depictions of saints, and of Saint Mark as first bishop of Alexandria remain uncertain. They may have been part of a liturgical throne given by Emperor Heraclius (r. 610–41) to Grado, Italy, after his successful re-conquest of Egypt.
The staggered jars and animated muscular figures convey the artist’s skill in this depiction of water jugs being filled at the Wedding at Cana. Carbon-14 dating of the fragment confirmed that the ivory dates within the timeframe of the exhibition.
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