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Plaque with Agnus Dei on a Cross between Emblems of the Four Evangelists

1000–1050
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 304
Represented here by their characteristic attributes are the four evangelists surrounding the Lamb of God (Agnus Dei), as derived from the vision of John in the Book of Revelation (4:6–7): an angel (Matthew), a winged lion (Mark), a winged ox (Luke), and an eagle (John). Originally this plaque would have covered a deluxe binding of a now-lost Gospel book. The stylization of the symbols and the type of interlaced foliate cross find parallels in manuscript illumination produced within the southern Italian region of Benevento, including at the famed Benedictine monastery of Monte Cassino.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Plaque with Agnus Dei on a Cross between Emblems of the Four Evangelists
  • Date: 1000–1050
  • Geography: Made in Benevento (perhaps)
  • Culture: South Italian
  • Medium: Elephant ivory
  • Dimensions: Overall: 9 1/4 x 5 3/8 x 3/8 in. (23.5 x 13.7 x 0.9 cm)
  • Classification: Ivories-Elephant
  • Credit Line: Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
  • Object Number: 17.190.38
  • Curatorial Department: Medieval Art and The Cloisters

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