Booklet with Scenes of the Passion

Unknown

ca. 1300 (carving); ca. 1310–20 (painting) · Elephant ivory, polychromy, and gilding · Medieval Art

An exceptional ivory object, this diminutive booklet is unusual in that both the exterior covers, depicting scenes of the Passion, and the interior covers, containing representations of the Virgin, are carved. The religious nature of the booklet suggests that it served as an accessory for private devotion. The painted images facing the covers are later additions, since they transform the subjects of the carvings. Except for the two painted leaves, all have raised edges. Wax may have been applied to the surfaces, allowing prayers of intercession or litanies of saints to be inscribed on the tablets with a stylus.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 1300 (carving); ca. 1310–20 (painting)

Medium

Elephant ivory, polychromy, and gilding

Culture

North French (carving); Upper Rhenish (painting)

Department

Medieval Art

Credit line

The Jack and Belle Linsky Collection, 1982