Gothic Ivories Project | Gabled polyptych (tabernacle; colonnettes; frise d'arcatures) (Front)

Wings, left
Register 1: Annunciation; Visitation.
Register 2: Adoring Magi (part of the Adoration of the Magi).
Centre panel Seated Virgin and Child.
Wings, right
Register 1: Nativity; Virgin holding Christ with both hands.
Register 2: Presentation in the Temple; Virgin holding Christ.

Koechlin 1924: France, end of 1st third of 14th century.
Morey 1936: Italian imitation of French style, 1st half of the 14th century.

Attribution
Unknown

Hinges
Two sets of two ring hinges on either side (repaired).

Polychromy - Gilding
Traces of gilding and polychromy: hems, architectural details, haloes, garment of the Virgin; traces of blue (inside of the canopy), red (pinnacles; veil of the Virgin in the Nativity and the Presentation scenes), green (inside the cradle and cloak of the Virgin in the Presentation scene).

Reverse
Crosshatching on the bottom for gluing onto a base.

Object Condition
Missing: upper part of the gable. The base at the feet of the Virgin in the centre panel has been repaired.

Provenance
Mentioned in the inventory of Clement XIII, pope from 1758 to 1769 (Inv. Clemente XIII, f. 87v).

Bibliography
J. O. Westwood, Fictile Ivories in the South Kensington Museum (London, 1876), Appendix, no. 35, p. 350.
R. Kanzler, Gli avori dei musei profano e sacro della Biblioteca Vaticana (Rome, 1903), no. 60, pl. XIX.
R. Koechlin, Les Ivoires gothiques français (Paris, 1924), I, pp. 126, 129; II, no. 143.
C. R. Morey, Gli oggetti di avorio e di osso del Museo Vaticano (Vatican City, 1936), pp. 76-77, no. A83, pl. XIX.

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