Inv. B 285
Side 1: Death of the Virgin (Dormition); Christ holding the soul of the Virgin; apostles; saint Peter holding a situla (holy water bucket) and an aspergillum; angel giving the Virgin the last sacrament; saint John the Evangelist kissing the Virgin's hand; God the Father with papal tiara making a blessing gesture; orb; angels.
Side 2: Deposition with thieves; Virgin in prayer supported by saint John the Evangelist; Joseph of Arimathea holding Christ's body; saint Mary Magdalene embracing the foot of the cross; Holy Women praying; sun and moon; ladder; soldiers.
Foliated decoration.
Museum's opinion 2013: Franco-Flemish (?), 1st half of the 15th century.
Williamson and Davies 2014: French (Paris), c. 1400-1410.
Attribution
Unknown
Polychromy - Gilding
Extensive polychromy and gilding: gold (hair, halos); green (clothing); red (clothing); purple (clothing, angel wings); blue (clothing).
Object Condition
Missing: upper part of the Crucifixion medallion; part of the foliated openwork in the background of both medallions.
Provenance
Collection of Wilhelm Clemens (b. 1847, d. 1934), Cologne: donated with the rest of his collection to the city of Cologne in 1919-1920.
Bibliography
Die Sammlung Clemens, ed. by B. Klesse, H.-U. Haedeke and H. Griese, exhibition catalogue, Cologne, Kunstgewerbemuseum, 1963, no. 403 (considered to be wax reliefs), p. 78.
S. Czymmek, 'Mikrokosmos in Elfenbein,' in Schnütgen-Museum Köln: Kleine Festschrift zum dreifachen Jubiläum (Cologne, 1981), pp. 28-33 (ill. on p. 32).
P. Williamson and G. Davies, Medieval Ivory Carvings 1200-1550 (London, 2014), p. 457 (no. 1), in relation to no. 157.
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