Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Descent from the Cross
Not on view
Joseph of Arimathea lowers the crucified body of Christ toward the Virgin in this ivory plaque, while Saint John the Evangelist grieves on a nearby rock and Nicodemus removes a nail from Christ’s foot. The inscription on the upper edge claims that Bishop Bernward commissioned the work in 1006, but both an error in the inscription and the carving style, with its unusual poses and crude details, suggest a later date.
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