The theme of Christ handing the keys of heaven to Saint Peter and the law to Saint Paul, which originated in fourth-century Rome, refers to the Gospel of Matthew (16:18): "I also tell you that you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church." At the same time, it highlights the importance of Saint Paul’s mission to the Gentiles. In this powerful interpretation, a domed structure, perhaps representing the heavenly Jerusalem, replaces the rock on which Christ is depicted more frequently. The dramatic expressions, the fluid clinging drapery, and the openwork carving are characteristic of German Romanesque ivory carving. The inscription, including the date 1200, is of later origin.
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Open Access
As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.
API
Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.
This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.
Artwork Details
Use your arrow keys to navigate the tabs below, and your tab key to choose an item
Title:Plaque with Christ Presenting the Keys to Saint Peter and the Law to Saint Paul
Date:ca. 1150–1200
Geography:Made in Westphalia, Germany
Culture:German
Medium:Elephant ivory
Dimensions:Overall: 5 15/16 x 3 3/8 x 3/8 in. (15.1 x 8.5 x 0.9 cm)
Classification:Ivories-Elephant
Credit Line:The Cloisters Collection, 1979
Accession Number:1979.399
Inscription: (on banderole): S[superscript T] . A / TRE . V[ERORUM] : [should be SANCTITAS TREVERORUM] (the piety of [the peoples of] Triers)
(on base of rotunda): 1200
Count Christoph von Kesselstatt, Trier ; Private Collection, Rhineland, Germany ; Arthur Sachs American, Cambridge, Mass ; [ Ernest Brummer, Zurich (sold 1979)] ; [his sale, Galerie Koller AG, Zurich (October 16-19, 1979, no. 77)]
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Mirror of the Medieval World," March 9–June 1, 1999.
Weerth, Ernst Aus'm. Kunstdenkmäler des christlichen Mittelalters in den Rheinlanden: Part I, Bildnerei. Vol. plates. Leipzig: Max Cohen & Sohn, 1868. pl. LVIII, fig. 6.
Weerth, Ernst Aus'm. Kunstdenkmäler des christlichen Mittelalters in den Rheinlanden: Part I, Bildnerei. Vol. 3. Leipzig: Max Cohen & Sohn, 1868. pp. 90–91.
Westwood, J. O., ed. A Descriptive Catalogue of the Fictile Ivories in the South Kensington Museum, with an Account of the Continental Collection of Classical and Medieval Ivories. London: South Kensington Museum, 1876. no. 292, pp. 130–31, 470.
Otte, Heinrich. Handbuch der kirchlichen Kunst-Archäologie des Deutschen Mittelalters, edited by Ernst Wernicke. Vol. 2. 5th ed. Leipzig: T. O. Weigel, 1884. p. 549.
Molinier, Emile. Les Ivoires. Histoire générale des arts appliqués à l'industrie, Vol. 1. Paris: Librairie Centrale des Beaux-Arts, 1896. p. 171.
Semper, Hans. "Ueber rheinische Elfenbein- und Beinarbeiten des XI. und XII. Jahrh. [2]." Zeitschrift für christliche Kunst 9, no. 10 (1896). cols. 292–93.
Goldschmidt, Adolph. Die Elfenbeinskulpturen aus der romanischen Zeit, XI.-XIII. Jahrhundert. Vol. 3. Berlin: Bruno Cassirer, 1923. pp. 22–23, [early history and bibliography for this cat. no. apply to this object, not the 19th–century copy in the John Rylands Library in Manchester, England].
Schnitzler, Hermann. "A Romanesque Ivory Carving in the Arthur Sachs Collection." Bulletin of the Fogg Art Museum 2, no. 1 (November 1932). pp. 13–18, fig. 1.
Jansen, Franz. "Der Paderborner domdechant Graf Christoph von Kesselstatt und seine Handschriftensammlung." In Sankt Liborius: Sein Dom und sein Bistum, edited by Paul Simon. Paderborn: Bonifatius, 1936. p. 549.
The Ernest Brummer Collection. Vol. 1. Zurich: Galerie Koller, October 16–19, 1979. no. 77, pp. 90–93.
Kleinbauer, Walter Eugene. "Recent Major Acquisitions of Medieval Art by American Museums." Gesta 19, no. 1 (1980). p. 70, fig. 15.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. Notable Acquisitions, 1979-1980 (Metropolitan Museum of Art) (1980). p. 22.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. "One Hundred Tenth Annual Report of the Trustees for the Fiscal Year July 1, 1979, through June 30, 1980." Annual Report of the Trustees of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 110 (1980). p. 41.
Deshman, Robert. "The Imagery of the Living Ecclesia and the English Monastic Reform." In Sources of Anglo-Saxon Culture, edited by Paul E. Szarmach. Studies in Medieval Culture, Vol. 20. Medieval Institute Publications, 1986. fig. 8, pp. 268–271.
Wixom, William D., ed. Mirror of the Medieval World. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1999. no. 85, pp. 71–72.
Stein, Wendy A. How to Read Medieval Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2016. no. 17, pp. 16, 72–73.
Brennan, Christine, Christel Hollevoet-Force, and Yaëlle Biro, ed. The Brummer Galleries, Paris and New York: Defining Taste from Antiquities to the Avant-Garde. Boston: Brill, 2023. fig. C9, pp. pp. 490, 493.
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Museum's collection of medieval and Byzantine art is among the most comprehensive in the world, encompassing the art of the Mediterranean and Europe from the fall of Rome to the beginning of the Renaissance.
