Inv. 696
Two competing interpretations: Side 1: two ladies and three men, probably Isabella of France, wife of the deposed king of England Edward II Plantagenet, and her acolytes; king Edward sees them approaching the tower where he is kept prisoner and shows them to his jailer, Lord Berkeley.Side 2: death of king Edward II, assassinated by conspirators, with the complicity of his wife Isabella of France; he is assassinated by having a poker thrust into his behind; trees. OR:Side 1: Virgil ridiculed in a basket, hanging from the battlements; princess on the battlements; onlookers.Side 2: revenge of Virgil: man and woman lighting candles at the princess's behind; men and women; trees.
Westwood 1876: Italy, 13th century.
Bologna 1959: Northern Italy, late 14th century.
Marciano c. 1992-1994: Northern Italy (probably Lombardy), 1st quarter of the 15th century.
Attribution
Unknown
Polychromy - Gilding
Traces of polychromy and gilding.
Reverse
Carved on both sides.
Provenance
Found in 1756 during the excavations of the so-called 'Guasto', the ruins of the Bentivoglio Palace (built in the 2nd half of the 15th century). Collection of count Ludovico Savioli: donated by him to the Collezioni Universitarie (no. 339) in 1776; acquired by the Museo Civico di Bologna in 1881.
Bibliography
J. O. Westwood, Fictile Ivories in the South Kensington Museum (London, 1876), Appendix, p. 362, no. 8.
P. Ducati, Guida del Museo Civico di Bologna (Bologna, 1923), p. 123.
Lavori in osso e avorio dalla Preistoria al Rococò, dir. by R. Pincelli, exhibition catalogue, Bologna, Museo Civico, 20 September-11 October 1959, no. 113, pl. 22.
A. Marciano, Avori gotici, entry no. 6 (Museo Civico Medievale), Catalogo dei Musei Civici d'Arte Antica di Bologna (unpublished, [c. 1992-1994]).
A. Marciano, 'Ludovico Savioli e gli avori dei bassi tempi', in Arte a Bologna 2 (1992), pp. 187-202 (p. 190, pl. 12).
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