Plaque with Christ enthroned with two Apostles

Unknown

850–875 · Ivory · Medieval Art

These carvings—one showing the Virgin and the Infant Jesus, the other showing Christ flanked by Saints Peter and Paul—reuse ivory plaques that might have once served as furniture mounts. The plaques, originally carved in Egypt one hundred years earlier, depict on their backs a tree flanked by birds and Hercules capturing the Golden Stag of Artemis. The recarving of pagan ivories with Christian subjects, probably to adorn a Gospel book, occurred in a workshop associated with the emperor Charles the Bald (r. 840–77), the grandson of Charlemagne. The reuse of ancient ivory plaques, not unusual in the 800s, was due to the rarity of African elephant ivory in Europe.

Artist

Unknown

Date

850–875

Medium

Ivory

Culture

Carolingian

Department

Medieval Art

Credit line

Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917