Inv. 914.1.137
Herod ordering the Massacre of the Innocents; soldiers in armour.
Koechlin 1924: France, 1st half of the 14th century.
Randall 1993: English (German workman or model), 2nd quarter of the 14th century.
Museum's opinion 2012: France (Paris), 1st half of 14th century.
Attribution
Unknown
Polychromy - Gilding
Traces of gilding and polychromy: green (lining of Herod's robe), gold (hair; beard; crown), red (sword; architectural details); decorative pattern on the background.
Object Condition
Missing: upper part of the gable.
Cracks (background, through the figure on left).
Comments
Other fragments have survived: two in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (64.27.19 and 64.27.20), three in the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento (1960.3.54, 78 and 79) and one in Washington. This panel originally was the 2nd register of the outer left wing. To see how these fragments were originally arranged, see Randall 1993.
Provenance
Collection of Charles Piet-Lataudrie (d. 1909); Piet-Lataudrie bequest to the Museum in 1914.
Bibliography
E. Molinier, 'La Collection de M. Piet-Lataudrie', in Les Arts (August 1909), p. 6.
R. Koechlin, Les Ivoires gothiques français (Paris, 1924), I, p. 135; II, no. 182.
R. H. Randall, The Golden Age of Ivory: Gothic Ivory Carvings in North American Collections (New York, 1993), no. 45g.
Entry on Alienor.org, Conseil des Musées: http://www.alienor.org/alienorweb/public/fiche_objet.asp?__TableId=32&__GroupId=286&__FormGroupId=37&__NoFiche=18119 (accessed June 2012)
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