The relics of the sixth-century Spanish saint Aemilian were housed in an ornate shrine crafted of ivory, gold, and gems. We are remarkably well informed about the reliquary, which was made on the occasion of the translation (or transport) of the saint's relics from the monastery of Suso to the church of San Millán de la Cogolla, dedicated in 1067. Although the reliquary was damaged during the Napoleonic invasion of Spain in 1809, we know from a 1601 description that The Cloisters' plaque decorated the roof of the shrine. On it we see the saint tending his sheep in the bottom register, while above he receives a blessing from the hand of God at the top of a mountain.
In addition to this plaque, several other ivories from the shrine survive in European and American collections. One, in the State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, depicts the ivory carver and his assistant in the workshop and bears an inscription that identifies them as Master Engelram and his son Redolfo. Such images of artists were rare in this period, as was the practice of identifying artists by name.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Panel with San Millán
Artist:Master Engelram and his son Redolfo (Spanish, active Longroño, 1060–1090/5)
Date:1060–80
Geography:Made in La Rioja, Spain
Culture:Spanish
Medium:Elephant ivory, with glass inlay
Dimensions:Overall: 8 1/8 x 3 x 1/4 in. (20.6 x 7.6 x 0.7 cm)
Classification:Ivories-Elephant
Credit Line:The Cloisters Collection, 1987
Object Number:1987.89
Inscription: (on top arch): UBI EREMUM EXPETIT MONTIS DIRECECE II [should be DIRCETII] (where he seeks the wilderness of Mount Dircetius)
(on bottom arch): FUTU / RUS PASTOR hoMIN[U]M ERAT P[A]ST[O]R OVI / UM (the future shepherd of men was the shepherd of sheep)
From the monastery church of San Millán de la Cogolla, near Logroño; Jules Lowengard, Paris ; Duvale, Paris ; Jacques Heugel, Paris ; [ Cyril Humphris, Geneva (sold 1987)]
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Mirror of the Medieval World," March 9–June 1, 1999.
Pamplona, Spain. Baluarte Conference and Exhibition Hall of Navarre. "Sancho el Mayor y sus herederos. El linaje que europeizo los reinos hispanos," January 26, 2006–April 30, 2006.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Philippe de Montebello Years: Curators Celebrate Three Decades of Acquisitions," October 24, 2008–February 1, 2009.
New York. The Cloisters, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Spain, 1000–1200: Art at the Frontiers of Faith," August 30, 2021–January 30, 2022.
Sandoval, Prudencio de. Primera Parte de las Fundaciones de los Monasterios del Glorioso Padre San Benito. Madrid: Luis Sánchez, 1601. p. 23v.
Mecolaeta, Diego. Desagravio de la verdad en la historia de San Millan de la Cogolla. Madrid: Lorenzo Francisco Mojados, 1724. pp. 303–4.
Minguella y Arnedo, Toribio. San Millan de la Cogolla: Estudios histórico-religiosos acerca de la patria estado y Vida de San Millan. Madrid: Antonio Pérez Dubrull, 1883. pp. 112–13, (quoting Sandoval).
Peña, Joaquín. Los marfiles de San Millán de la Cogolla. Logroño: Editorial Ochoa, 1978. p. 27, (mentioned as one of the removed plaques).
Martin, Alastair Bradley, and William D. Wixom. "Curatorial Reports and Departmental Accessions." Annual Report of the Trustees of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 117 (July 1, 1986–June 30, 1987). p. 35.
Recent Acquisitions, 1986-1987 (Metropolitan Museum of Art) (1987). p. 15.
Harris, Julie A. "The Arca of San Millan de la Cogolla and Its Ivories." PhD diss., University of Pittsburgh, 1989. pp. 4, 40–46, 126, 164–65, fig. 10, 73.
Harris, Julie A. "Culto y Narrativa a en los Marfiles de San Millan de la Cogolla." Boletín del Museo Arqueológico Nacional 9 (1991). pp. 69–85, fig. 2.
Little, Charles T., ed. The Art of Medieval Spain, A.D. 500–1200. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1993. no. 125c, pp. 262–63.
Wixom, William D., ed. Mirror of the Medieval World. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1999. no. 72, pp. 58–60.
Jiménez-Blanco, María Dolores, and Cindy Mack. Arte español en Nueva York: Guía. Madrid: Hispanic Society of America, 2004. p. 113.
Barnet, Peter, and Nancy Y. Wu. The Cloisters: Medieval Art and Architecture. New York and New Haven: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2005. no. 5, pp. 28, 193.
Bango Torviso, Isidro, ed. Sancho el Mayor y sus herederos: el linaje que europeizó los reinos hispanos. Vol. 1. Madrid: Tf. Editores, 2006. no. 119, p. 308.
Franco Mata, María Angela. "Liturgia hispánica y marfiles: Talleres de León y San Millán de la Cogolla en el siglo XI." Codex aquilarensis: Cuadernos de investigación del Monasterio de Santa María la Real 22 (2006). pp. 136–37.
García Guinea, Miguel Ángel, and José María Pérez González, ed. Enciclopedia del románico en La Rioja. Vol. 1. Aguilar de Campoo: Fundacion Santa Maria la Real, Centro de Estudios, 2007. pp. 605–6.
Pardo, Francisco Fernández. Dispersión y Destrucción del Patrimonio Artístico Español. Vol. 3. 1st ed. Madrid: Fundación Universitaria Española, 2007. p. 388, fig. LXXXIV.
Pardo, Francisco Fernández. Dispersión y Destrucción del Patrimonio Artístico Español. Vol. 4. Madrid: Fundación Universitaria Española, 2007. p. 572, fig. 246.
Bologna, Ferdinando. "Avori Medioevali da Amalfi a Salerno, senza enigmi." In L'enigma degli avori medievali da Amalfi a Salerno, edited by Ferdinando Bologna. Vol. 1. Pozzuoli: Paparo Edizioni, 2008. p. 33, fig. 16, ill. (detail) on p. 28.
Camacho Matute, Valle, and Emiliano Navas Sánchez. Marfiles de San Millán: Arca románica de sus reliquias. Logroño, La Rioja: Ediciones Emilianenses, 2008. ill.
Evans, Helen C., ed. The Philippe de Montebello Years: Curators Celebrate Three Decades of Acquisitions – Online Catalogue. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2008.
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. 27.
Shalem, Avinoam. Die mittelalterlichen Olifante: Volume 1, Text. Die Elfenbeinskulpturen. Berlin: Deutscher Verlag für Kunstwissenschaft, 2014. pp. 162, 199, fig. 209.
Álvarez da Silva, Noemi. "El trabajo de marfil en la España del siglo XI." PhD diss., Universidad de León, 2014. pp. 393–94, 515, fig. 333.
Ciseri, Ilaria, ed. Gli avori del Museo nazionale del Bargello. Milan: Museo Nazionale del Bargello, 2018. p. 152.
Perratore, Julia. "Spain 1000-1200: Art at the Frontiers of Faith." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n. s., 79, no. 2 (Fall 2021). pp. 23–4, fig. 27.
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