Gothic Ivories Project | Gabled triptych, 3 registers (Front)

Open
Wing, left
Register 1: Annunciation; dove of the Holy Spirit; king.
Register 2: Nativity with swaddled Christ Child in manger; Annunciation to the Shepherds.
Register 3: Presentation in the Temple; Christ held over the altar by the Virgin and Simeon; maid holding a dove brought as offering.
Centre panel
Register 1: Coronation of the Virgin; Christ crowning the Virgin; two kneeling angels holding candlesticks.
Register 2: Holy Woman raising her hand; Crucifixion with the Virgin and saint John the Evangelist; saint John the Baptist holding the Lamb of God (Agnus Dei); angels crying.
Register 3: Death of the Virgin (Dormition); Christ holding the soul of the Virgin; bed decorated with tracery and quatrefoils; apostle holding a a situla (holy water bucket) and aspergillum; apostle holding a censer; saint Peter holding a key.
Wing, right
Register 1: Visitation; king.
Register 2: Adoration of the Magi (with Virgin and Child to the left).
Register 3: Flight into Egypt.
Closed (the back of the wings is painted):
Wing, left
Register 1: saint Catherine of Alexandria holding a martyr's palm.
Register 2: saint Nicolas with a bishop's mitre and crozier.
Wing, right
Register 1: saint Margaret of Antioch holding a martyr's palm.
Register 2: saint Martin with a bishop's mitre and crozier.

Dalton 1909: German, 14th century.
von Philippowich 1961: German, 14th century.
Jones 1990: German, late 18th century.
Museum's opinion 2011: German (Rhine), 14th or late 18th century.

Attribution
Unknown

Hinges
Two hinges on either side.

Polychromy - Gilding
Extensive gilding and polychromy: hair, crowns, beards, decoration along the hems.

Reverse
Back of the ivory sculptures crosshatched, with some drilled holes.

Object Condition
Missing: cross in the Crucifixion scene; object held by the angel in the Dormition scene.

Comments
A small parcel of relics was originally kept in a cavity in the Virgin's bed. The frame is made of wood, and dates from 1226-1275. The ivories were originally purchased inside the triptych, but they are now stored separately within the museum.

Provenance
Reputedly this piece was presented by the Pope to the Emperor in the mid-14th century, at the end of the 15th century it was gifted by an Empress to a convent of nuns together with a quantity of relics, the piece remained in the church attached to this convent until its suppression in the reign of Joseph II (b. 1741, d. 1790), at which point it passed into the hands of one of Joseph II's chief officers, from whom it was purchased by Dr Böhm (Christie's sales catalogue 1858); collection of Dr Böhm, director of the Museum of Medals, Vienna, c. 1834-1855; David Falcke, 92 New Bond Street, London (b. 1817), by purchase, April 1855; British Museum, by purchase through Christie's, 1858.

Bibliography
O. M. Dalton, Catalogue of the Ivory Carvings of the Christian Era in the British Museum, (London, 1909), no. 390, pl. XCII.
E. von Philippowich, Elfenbein (Brunswick, 1961), p. 143, fig. 108.
P. Pieper, 'Zwei deutsche Altarflügel des 13. Jahrhunderts im British Museum', in Niederdeutsche Beiträge zur Kunstgeschichte 3 (1964), pp. 215-228.
Die Zeit der Staufer: Geschichte, Kunst, Kultur, ed. by R. Haussherr and C. Väterlein, exhibition catalogue, Stuttgart, Württembergisches Landesmuseum, 1977, no. 432.
Fake? The Art of Deception, ed. by M. Jones, exhibition catalogue, London, British Museum, 1990, no. 2.

All images on this website are made available exclusively for scholarly and educational purposes and may not be used commercially.