Plaque with Agnus Dei on a Cross between Emblems of the Four Evangelists

Unknown

1000–1050 · Ivory · Medieval Art

Represented here by their characteristic attributes are the four evangelists surrounding the Lamb of God (Agnus Dei), as derived from the vision of John in the Book of Revelation (4:6–7): an angel (Matthew), a winged lion (Mark), a winged ox (Luke), and an eagle (John). Originally this plaque would have covered a deluxe binding of a now-lost Gospel book. The stylization of the symbols and the type of interlaced foliate cross find parallels in manuscript illumination produced within the southern Italian region of Benevento, including at the famed Benedictine monastery of Monte Cassino.

Artist

Unknown

Date

1000–1050

Medium

Ivory

Culture

South Italian

Department

Medieval Art

Credit line

Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917