ROMANESQUE AND GOTHIC IVORIES
Romanesque Art grew up north of the Alps in the valley of the Lower
Rhone and South France, and is especially the work of the French
people. The Italians led the way in the first centuries A.D., and were
followed by the Greeks of Byzantium, and then by the Carlovingian
Germanic peoples in the great art development of Europe; but from the
eleventh century France entirely fills the stage, and this pre-eminence
was kept up till the early Renaissance, when Italy again takes a
leading part.
The Romanesque style was transitional, and turned for re-inspiration to
the Gallo-Roman monuments, but it is deeply influenced by that northern
spirit which later on triumphed in the full perfection of the Gothic
Art.
There was a great revival of monumental sculpture with the growth of
the Romanesque spirit, and sculptured figures, from being introduced
tentatively in the capitals and other parts connected with the
structure, later, entirely filled the great _tympana_ or arches
surmounting the doors of the churches, and from thence spread to every
nook and cranny till in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries they
were numbered by thousands.
Carved ivories are not so numerous in the eleventh and twelfth
centuries as in the years before, and when they became popular again,
in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the division between the
sculptors in stone and the ivory workers had taken place, beautiful and
clever imitations of the sculptures were turned out by the dozen, but
it is exceedingly rare to find the work of a real artist.
The sculptures of the eleventh and early twelfth centuries have many
details in common with the book cover at St. Gall (Fig. 23); but
gradually the folds of the drapery grew vertical and the figures more
drawn out, and with a peculiar tendency to arrange the hair in set
curled locks. One of the most important transitional ivories is the
diptych of St. Nicasius, Bishop of Rheims, which is preserved in the
Cathedral of Tournai, and is still strongly Carlovingian, as will be
seen in the typical representation of the Crucifixion. Each leaf has
a central medallion, that on the first leaf containing the _Agnus
Dei_ supported by angels, whose movements can be closely paralleled
in the St. Gall plaque. Above, Christ is throned in a mandorla and
accompanied by the symbols of the four evangelists. On the second leaf,
in addition to the medallion containing the figure of St. Nicasius are
some pierced vine scrolls rather like those on Fig. 23, and by far the
best part of a very poor work. The drapery is, perhaps, better designed
than in the Carlovingian sculptures, but the folds are only engraved,
and though there is a certain change in the type of the faces, in
the matter of beauty it is entirely for the worse. A plaque in the
British Museum seems also to belong to this period, it is bordered
by a flowered scroll and has representations of _The Nativity_, _The
Announcement to the Shepherds_ and _The Baptism_, the latter being very
strange; the figure of Christ being immersed to the waist in a large
vase.
[Illustration: [VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM, LONDON
27. CROZIER
French, fourteenth century]
The Romanesque age was, above all, the age of symbolism; the sculptures
on the pastoral staves are full of hidden meaning. The _tau_, or crutch
shape, is the earliest form and belonged, more especially, to the
insignia of the abbots, though in later days they also had croziers.
The most ancient _tau_[22] belonged to Morard, Abbot of St. Germain de
Près (990-1014) and is ornamented with a network pattern. Another fine
_tau_, with the ends curling upwards and finished with lions’ heads,
belonged to Gérard, Bishop of Limoges.
The earlier croziers had a simple volute usually ending in a dragon’s
or serpent’s head, with snapping jaws, which symbolizes the struggle
between the serpent and the cross,[23] the latter being borne by the
symbolic ram, a development of the _Agnus Dei_. This ram is the symbol
of Christ; as St. Ambrose says, because he washes his fleece, guides
the flock, clothes the shepherd, conquers the wolves by his strength
and was the victim which replaced Isaac at the sacrifice, and again,
because the ram is silent before the shearers, as Christ was before his
judges, and finally the crozier curls like the horn of a ram, a symbol
of force.
The famous crozier (so-called of “St. Gregory”) in the Monastery of
St. Gregory on the Cœlian Hill at Rome, shows the dragon’s head, the
ram bearing the cross and a strange little lion cub, which is a direct
reference to the death and resurrection of Christ. In the natural
history of the Middle Ages, which drew more on fancy than on fact, it
was narrated how the lion cub died at birth and could only be recalled
to life by the breath of its father.
The Romanesque Church plunged even deeper into this symbolic thought,
and the Pascal Taper, which signifies the life of Christ on earth was
placed in a candelabrum supported by lions.
The strange pagan form, half human and half serpent, with a cock’s
head, is none other than the mystic Abraxas, whose name in Greek
numerals represented in the elaborate Gnostic calculations the whole
hierarchy of heaven and the Supreme Ruler of the Universe.
This symbol was supposed to have great talismanic powers to ward
off evil, and though it was contrary to canonical rules, Gnostic
gems engraved with the Abraxas deity were often set in the episcopal
croziers, or even the crook was decorated with this mysterious symbol,
as on the ivory crozier in the British Museum.
These croziers became more and more complicated in design, whole groups
of figures were introduced and foliage of a freer pattern, as in the
Staff of St. Ives, Bishop of Chartres, which is now in the Bargello at
Florence. The Gothic artists of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries
filled the volutes with figures and exquisite foliage, the groups
of the Crucifixion and the Virgin in glory fitting back to back so
accurately, that each side appeared perfect, and the join of the ivory
volute on to the wooden staff was often hidden by a row of saints
under delicate Gothic canopies.
The book cover of the Princess Melisanda, daughter of Baldwin II.,
King of Jerusalem (✝1160), is preserved in the MS. Department of
the British Museum; it is especially interesting as it shows the
curious mixture of Byzantine, Arabian, and Western art which had been
adopted by the Frankish rulers of the East, and which must have had
considerable influence on French art. The upper panel is ornamented
with representations of the six good actions, the principal actor
being richly apparelled as a Byzantine _basileus_. These medallions
are surrounded by a cord-like scroll, and the spaces are filled with
struggling oriental animals, which symbolize the combat of the Virtues
and Vices. On the lower leaf the medallions contain scenes from the
life of King David and both panels are surrounded by a border of
thoroughly oriental design.
Before entering on the subject of Gothic carvings, one class of bone
caskets should be mentioned which are roughly carved in imitation of
the Romanesque monumental style, with rows of tall figures under round
arcades. Molinier thinks they are rather archaistic than archaic, being
made in Constantinople as late as the thirteenth century, from old
models, and sold to contain the relics brought back from the East by
the Crusaders.
There are examples in the Berlin Museum, the Louvre, and the Musée
Cluny; the latter contained the relics of St. Barnaby, and was the gift
of Hugh, Abbot d’Estival and Bishop of Ptolemaïs in the thirteenth
century.
The stages of development from the Romanesque to Gothic are almost
imperceptible, and it is hard to say when the lingering classical
traditions received their final transformation. The same breath which
awakened the life in architecture freed the sculptor from the chains
of custom, and we may consider the statues on the porch at Chartres
as the commencement of modern sculpture. Like the Greeks, the Gothic
artists formed a type by the process of selection from individuals. The
new art was at first absolutely religious and simple, but the research
for grace and the ever growing naturalism, mitigated, it is true, by
extreme elegance and delicacy, gradually engrossed the entire mind of
the artist and ended in the exclusion of all spirituality.
The ivory carvers long continued repeating the old formulæ, and it
was only by the end of the thirteenth century that they commenced to
copy the exquisite statues which decorated the new cathedrals in such
numbers.
There are several examples of thirteenth century work still extremely
old-fashioned in style, as the three little pierced plaques in
the Louvre, representing the twelve apostles, accompanied by the
favourite French saints, Denis, Rusticus and Eleutherius. The style
is still transitional, but the forms of the foliage are freer, and
a considerable modification of type is visible. The Virgin in the
Collection Fillon is seated full face with the Child sitting equally on
both knees, the stiffness of the pose being only relieved by a little
freedom in the turn of the Child’s head.
The marvellous impulse of religious enthusiasm, which, arising in the
thirteenth century, became evident by the passionate fervour of the
worship of the Virgin, and the multiplication of her images for public
and private devotion. One of the most ideally noble representations
is that in the group of _The Coronation of the Virgin_ in the Louvre,
(Fig. 28); it closely resembles the best sculpture in its severe
lines, and was probably made about 1280. A hundred years later there
is an entry in the Inventory of Charles V. which most probably refers
to this group; it reads most quaintly in the old French. “_Item, ung
courronnement de Nostre Seigneur à Nostre-Dame, d’yvire et trois
angellotz de mesmes._”
The earlier ivories were always painted, and much of the original
colouring is preserved. The Virgin is dressed in rich robes, _semées de
France_ (as much in honour of the Royal House as of her attribute the
“lily”), but she is utterly unconscious of self as she humbly bows her
head to receive the crown. The two little ecstatic angels form a part
of every group of the Glorification of the Virgin, either bearing tall
candles, or with their hands raised in adoration.
[Illustration: A. GIRAUDON PHOTO.] [LOUVRE, PARIS
28. CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN
End of thirteenth century]
There is hardly fifty years between this purely idealistic conception
and the beautiful, but completely mundane _Vierge de la Sainte
Chapelle_ in the same collection. This magnificent figure is carved
from one huge piece of ivory, and was probably the gift of St. Louis
to his new chapel, about 1320. The masterly arrangement of the drapery
and the exquisite finish make it one of the most celebrated ivories of
the fourteenth century, but the old simplicity is quite gone, and the
studied ease of the Virgin’s pose is chosen to give value to every line
of drapery and figure. There is a feeling of movement in all her being,
which, with the beautiful broken folds of the drapery has within it the
germ of that restlessness which, rapidly increasing, became a painful
fault in later Gothic sculpture. The colouring is very delicate, the
pupils of the eyes are dark; the lips, which are just parting in a
rather affected smile, are lightly touched with carmine, and a faint
gilded border relieves the edges of the garments. The little seated
figure of the Virgin in the Bargello (Fig. 29), is more direct and
simple in design, and is probably of the last years of the thirteenth
century.
The curve in many of these figures has been put down to the shape of
the tusk; this is no doubt the case in many examples, but the peculiar
twist is first found in some of the stone figures of the Sainte
Chapelle, where it seems to have been introduced as a contrast to the
perpendicular shafts of the architecture, and the constant employment
of this peculiar twist in the tiny figures of the ivory reliefs and in
stone carving, proves it to be more a question of taste than necessity.
[Illustration: ALINARI PHOTO.] [BARGELLO, FLORENCE
29. THE MADONNA AND CHILD
Thirteenth century]
In the Paris Exposition of 1900 two lovely ivory figures were
placed together and formed a group of the Annunciation. They belong
to different private collections,[24] and have been beautifully
illustrated in the splendid series of photogravures of the treasures
in the _Exposition retrospective de l’Art français_. Whether they are
by the hand of the same craftsman seems a matter of doubt, as the
technique of the drapery varies somewhat; but nothing can equal the
exquisite softness of the Virgin’s robes and the dignified pose, worthy
of the best work of the thirteenth century.
The ideal and pathetic group of _The Descent from the Cross_ now in the
Louvre (Fig. 30). It is strangely reminiscent in design, recalling the
Byzantine rendering of the same subject in an eleventh century ivory,
late in the Bonaffé Collection, in which the Virgin raises the hand of
Christ to her lips with the same noble and restrained gesture, while
His lifeless body slips helplessly down over the shoulder of Joseph of
Arimathea. A similar group is sculptured in the Church of Le Bourget
in Savoy, which is also useful in giving a clue to the fourth figure,
which is evidently missing from the Louvre group.
Maskell, in the introductions to his _Catalogue of Ivories in the
Victoria and Albert Museum_, refers to a small carving from the centre
of a crozier which represents the Dead Christ on the knees of the
Virgin, which is treated with strong but reserved feeling.
[Illustration: A. GIRAUDON PHOTO.] [LOUVRE, PARIS
30. THE DESCENT FROM THE CROSS
End of thirteenth century]
The series of religious _tableaux cloans_ are very numerous, especially
in the fourteenth century; they consist of two, three or more pieces
and were intended for private devotions or as portable decorations for
the various altars of a church, being taken with the cross and candles
by the acolyte and placed on the altar for mass. The ornamentation
was usually in tiers of little scenes, or with one large central
figure (Fig. 31). The subjects have little variety and are taken
from the Passion or the popular _Légende dorée_. The scenes usually
follow in chronological order from the bottom of the left leaf to
the corresponding corner on the right. The composition is often very
confused, owing to the tendency to portray different stages of the same
action in different compartments, to avoid placing figures on a second
plane, and often the complicated architectural setting compelled the
figures to be placed in contorted attitudes; in many representations of
the Crucifixion the figure of Christ is strangely twisted to bring the
head on a level with the other figures beneath the arcade.
[Illustration: [VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM, LONDON
31. POLYPTYCH. VIRGIN AND CHILD—SCENES FROM THE NATIVITY
French, fourteenth century]
A fine triptych of the thirteenth century, in the Collection Martin
le Roy at Paris, is especially interesting, as it is an early example
of the composition of the scenes of _The Death of the Virgin_, as
described by Jaques Voragine in the _Légende dorée_, and it shows
how the types hardly altered all through the succeeding century. The
angel coming to the Virgin to announce her death brings her a palm
from Paradise as a sign; the group of men in uneasy attitudes are the
apostles newly dropped from the clouds, having been collected from all
parts to be present. The lowest scene of the central part is the most
important; in it the Virgin is lying dead, surrounded by the apostles,
whilst the little naked soul is on the arm of Christ, Who raises His
hand to bless the dead body. The whole imagery is the same as on the
Byzantine ivory in the Library at Munich. In another part the body is
borne away for burial. On the second register the Virgin rises in glory
carrying a palm and book and accompanied by the most charming group
of music-making angels; above, she sits enthroned beside Christ and
attended by the two candle-bearing angels.
The only known signed mediæval ivory is a box in the British Museum
which bears the name of _Jehan Nicolle_. In the Inventory of Charles V.
the name of one ivory carver has survived, but he was also goldsmith to
the king. “_Item, deux grans beaulx tableaux d’yvire des troys Maries
que fist Jehan le Braellier, en ung estuy de cuir._” These _estuys de
cuir_ were made of very beautiful tooled leather, two fine examples are
in the Salting Collection in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Reference
is made to as many as three degrees of ivory carvers in the list of
_mestiers and marchandise_ of the town of Paris in 1258.
[Illustration: [MAYER COLLECTION, LIVERPOOL MUSEUM
32. FIRST LEAF OF A DIPTYCH
French, fourteenth century]
As the country grew more settled, riches and comfort increased, and
once more the ivory carvers turned their attention to ornamenting the
little objects of civil life, and we find exquisitely carved writing
tablets, caskets and articles for the toilet, as combs, long hair
wavers, and above all, the covers for the little metal mirrors that
were worn hanging from the girdle. No self-respecting woman could
dispense with these little luxuries, and in the lengthy _Miroir de
Mariage_ of Eustache Deschamps, one verse deals with the requirements
of a wife:
_Pigne, tressoir, semblablement
Et miroir, pour moy ordonner
D’yvoire me devez donner,
Et l’estuy qui soit noble et gent
Pendre a cheannes d’argent._
[Illustration: ALINARI PHOTO.] [BARGELLO, FLORENCE
33. PLAQUE FROM A CASKET
French, fourteenth century]
Quite a new range of subjects were introduced at the end of the
thirteenth century, and in civil as in religious subjects the
compositions were fixed and varied but little afterwards; though we
know that about 1340 there was a complete change in dress, and the
old-fashioned long loose robes, which fell in such soft folds were
discarded for tighter and rather shorter garments; these are sometimes
seen in social groups, as the games of _la mourre_ and _la main chaude_
(a sort of forfeits), which are carved on a pair of writing tablets
in the Louvre. The subjects are nearly all from literary sources,
the miniatures of the MSS. having once more furnished models for the
ivory carver. There is a beautiful little casket in the British Museum
with scenes from the romance of _La Chastelaine de Vergi_, and the
delightful dancing group in the Bargello (Fig. 33) formed part of a
similar casket. The rhythmic flow of the soft rich drapery as the
dancers move to the sound of music is exceedingly beautiful and the
treatment broad, considering that the whole scene is contained in
little more than six square inches. The figures are well proportioned,
but with hardly any muscular development, and there is an entire absence
of manliness in the male figures, who can only be recognized by the
arrangement of the hair, the centre lock being cut across the forehead,
and by the slightly shorter robes.
Scenes are taken from the _Lai d’Aristote_ and the other so-called
classical romances of _Jason_, _Alexander_ and _Virgil_, the latter
being described as a mediæval enchanter. Both he and poor Aristotle
were most cruelly treated by their mistresses, the dignified Virgil
being compelled to crawl on all fours while the lady rides on his back,
and Aristotle fared even worse, being suspended in mid-air in a basket.
The cycle of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table are ever
popular themes, especially the scene of _Tristan and Iseult_ surprised
by the reflection of King Mark in the fountain. _The Assault of the
Castle of Love_ was taken from an allegory in the _Romaunt de la Rose_.
The knights ride up to force the gate or scale the battlements and are
met with a shower of posies, but the fair garrison makes but a faint
show of resistance, and the enemy is soon within.
Four lions or basilisks crawl along the outer edge of these mirrors
for convenience in opening the circular cover. There are examples in
all collections of these civil ivories, some of a perfectly marvellous
delicacy and minuteness, and it is unnecessary to name any special
examples, except, perhaps, a fine but broken mirror cover in the Musée
de Cluny which is splendidly carved with the figures of a king and
queen.
[Illustration: [MAYER COLLECTION, LIVERPOOL MUSEUM
34. THE ELOPEMENT OF GUINIVERE
French, fourteenth century]
The art of Southern France had a peculiar local style, the figures
being heavier and flabbier with little thought of the modelling of
forms, which were thickly covered with brilliant paint; there is
perhaps a greater freedom in the grouping of the figures.
By the end of the fourteenth century the Franco-Flemish influence
appears, and art rapidly lost its delicacy in the attempts at realism.
A magnificent chess-board in the Bargello of the closely allied
Burgundian school, is carved with a tourney and other festivities, and
gives a good picture of the costumes of the fifteenth century. The
beautiful ivory harp in the Louvre, and the prettily carved wand of the
Lord High Falconer of England in the Liverpool Museum are some of the
latest Gothic efforts before the advent of the Renaissance.
There is little to distinguish German ivories in the thirteenth and
fourteenth centuries from the French; perhaps there is a tendency to
greater elaboration in the architecture, and on rare occasions the
figures betray the German type; but in the fifteenth century the love
of realism gained ground, and the ivory carvers more closely imitated
the painters and the rapidly increasing school of wood carving.
[Illustration: ALINARI PHOTO.] [BARGELLO, FLORENCE
35. PANEL FROM A CASKET
French, fourteenth century]
The English were also profoundly influenced by the French Gothic art,
but gradually worked out a style of their own. There was less monotony
of design and a considerable modification of types, the figures
becoming thinner and the faces graver, more earnest and sweeter in
expression, though, at the same time, more realistic; also there is
a variation in certain details of the costumes. Two pierced plaques
with scenes from _The Life of St. Agnes_ which were in the Meyrick
and Spitzer Collections, and a plaque representing Christ with the
apostles, the group being surrounded by rich architecture, and two
other pierced plaques with scenes of the Passion, in the Victoria and
Albert Museum, seem to be English work. In the Salting Collection,
now in the same museum, is a deeply cut diptych of a strongly
characteristic type representing the _Virgin and Child_, and _Christ
teaching_; the figures are framed in architecture of an English type
decorated with small heraldic roses. This diptych formed part of both
the Soltykoff and Spitzer Collections.
The triptych in the British Museum (Fig. 36) is closely connected with
it, and is said to have been carved for Bishop Grandison of Exeter
(1327-1369), but Molinier thinks that the style is far nearer that
of the early fifteenth century. In the British Museum there is also
the wing of a diptych, in two divisions, with _The Annunciation_, and
below, _John Baptist_; the other wing is in the Louvre and represents
the _Coronation_, with _John the Evangelist_ in the lower compartment.
Before closing this short survey, one small statuette in the Victoria
and Albert Museum should be mentioned, as the sweet and affectionate
earnestness of the Virgin’s face is typical of the English ivories, for
if far inferior to the French in actual technique, they have a depth of
reverent feeling which is too often entirely wanting in the latter.
The Italian ivory workers continued long under the spell of the
Byzantines, and when aroused to the fresh ideas of Gothic art, their
work at first showed few features that could distinguish it from the
French models. Gradually the designs became less concentrated and many
differences crept in, especially in the treatment of the conventional
foliage. The gorgeously coloured crozier in the Salting Collection is
an example of this period; it belonged to Benci Aldobrandini, Bishop of
Volterra in 1331. On the top is a half-length figure of Christ between
two men; _The Adoration of the Magi_ is figured within the crook,
which emerges from the throat of a dragon, and just below, in four
highly-painted shrines, sit the Evangelists.
[Illustration: MANSELL PHOTO.] [BRITISH MUSEUM
36. TRIPTYCH OF BISHOP GRANDISON OF EXETER
English, fourteenth century]
In the late fourteenth century the Italians commenced an entirely
original style of carving on narrow strips of bone. The figures with
the scenic accessories are closely related to the early schools of
painting. These sculptures, unlike the unmixed ivory of the French
carvings, were always framed in narrow intarsia borders. Small
triptychs (Fig. 37) developed into enormous size, as the great
altar-piece in the old Sacristy at the Certosa at Pavia and the famous
_retable_ in the Louvre, which comes from the abbey of Poissy, and was
the gift of the Due de Berri, brother of Charles V., and one of the
regents for the young Charles VI. in 1380. It contains his portrait and
that of his wife, Jehanne de Bourgogne. The fragments of a third large
_retable_ still exist, divided between the John Rylands Library at
Manchester and the Victoria and Albert Museum.
These _retables_ are large in size, but not great in design, and though
the groups of figures are lovely in detail, they are not impressive as
a whole, the low relief giving little scope for the play of light and
shade.
There are many beautiful polygonal caskets with domed covers, also
combs and other small articles, and a very excellent account of the
whole series has been given by Julius v. Schlosser in the _Wiener
Jahrbuch_ for 1900.
[Illustration: [VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM, LONDON
LOAN COLLECTION HON. A. BERESFORD-HOPE, M.P.
37. TRIPTYCH IN CARVED BONE
Italian, early fifteenth century]
This short account of the Ivory Workers of the Middle Ages commenced
with Italy in the last years of the fourth century, and, having made
the round of Europe, returns to her after a thousand years, at the end
of the fourteenth century, and must close, just at the outgoing of the
mediæval era, with this magnificent group of carvings, which lies half
across the border line of the early and true Renascimento.
FOOTNOTES:
[22] See an article on Croziers by Cahier and Martin, _Mélanges
d’Archéologie_, t. iv.
[23] See an article by Barbier de Montault, _Revue de l’Art Chrétien_,
1883, p. 157.
[24] The Angel belongs to M. G. Chalandon and the Virgin to M. P.
Garnier.
LIST OF DIPTYCHS
FROM MOLINIER
CONSULAR
1. About 400. [Probably] STILICHO.
_a._ Stilicho, standing, armed, bearded.
_b._ Serena and little Eucherius, standing.
_Tesorio della Basilica, Monza._
2. 406. PROBUS. Rome.
_a._ Emperor Honorius, standing, armed, with standard and orb.
_b._ Emperor Honorius, standing, armed, with shield and spear.
_Cathedral Treasury, Aosta._
3. 428. FELIX. Rome.
_a._ Standing in trabea, bearded.
_b._ Standing in chlamys.
_Bibliothèque nationale, Paris._
4. 449. ASTURIAS. Rome.
_a._ Sitting on curule chair, two attendants (lost).
_b._ Same type (formerly at Liège).
_Darmstadt Museum._
5. 487. BOETHIUS. Rome.
_a._ Sitting, holding _mappa_.
_b._ Standing.
_Museo Civico, Brescia._
6. 488. SIVIDIUS. Rome.
_a._ Inscribed medallion and scrolls.
_Bibliothèque nationale, Paris._
_b._ Inscribed medallion and scrolls (lost).
7. 506. AREOBINDUS. Constantinople.
_a._ Consular type. Lions.
_b._ Cons. type. Bears.
_National Museum, Zurich._
8. 506. AREOBINDUS. Constantinople.
_a._ Cons. type. Bears (Basilewsky Coll.).
_Museum of the Hermitage, St. Petersburg._
_b._ (Lost.)
9. 506. AREOBINDUS. Constantinople.
_a._ Cons. type. Gladiators.
_b._ (Lost, or possibly pair to No. 10.)
_Besançon Museum._
10. 506. AREOBINDUS. Constantinople.
_a._ (Lost or possibly pair to No. 9.)
_b._ Cons. type. Bull-fight (late Baudot Coll.).
_Musée de Cluny, Paris._
11. 506. AREOBINDUS. Constantinople.
_a._ and _b._ Crossed cornucopias.
_Biblioteca, Lucca._
12. 506. AREOBINDUS. Constantinople.
_a._ and _b._ Bust and scroll. Monogram.
_Trivulzio Collection, Milan._
13. 506. AREOBINDUS. Constantinople.
_a._ Same as No. 12. (Renaissance carving on back.)
_Louvre, Paris._
14. 506. AREOBINDUS. Constantinople.
_a._ and _b._ Type of No. 12, without monogram
(formerly in Treasury of St. Gaudenzio, Novara).
_Museo Civico, Bologna._
15. 513. CLEMENTINUS. Constantinople.
_a._ and _b._ Cons. type. Monogram.
_Mayer Collection, Liverpool Museum._
16. 515. ANTHEMIUS. Constantinople.
_a._ Cons. type (lost).
(_Formerly at Limoges._)
17. 517. ANASTASIUS. Constantinople.
_a._ Cons. type. Bears.
_b._ Cons. type. Manumission of slaves, etc.
_Bibliothèque nationale, Paris._
18. 517. ANASTASIUS. Constantinople.
_a._ Cons. type (formerly at Liège).
_Berlin Museum._
_b._ Cons. type (broken), (formerly at Liège).
_Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington, London._
19. 517. ANASTASIUS. Constantinople.
_b._ Type of No. 18. Two Amazons and jugglers.
_Chapter Library, Verona._
20. 517. ANASTASIUS. Constantinople.
_b._ Lower fragment, two Amazons and tumblers.
(_Formerly Coll. Jauzé, lost._)
21. 518. MAGNUS. Constantinople.
_a._ Cons. type (formerly at Leyden).
_Bibliothèque nationale, Paris._
22. 518. MAGNUS. Constantinople (attributed to).
_a._ Type of No. 21 (camel bone).
Re-inscribed PIO PRAESULE BALDRICO IUBENTE.
_Mayer Collection, Liverpool Museum._
23. 518. MAGNUS. Constantinople (attributed to).
_a._ Type of No. 21.
Re-inscribed ARABONTI DEO VOTA
(formerly Basilewsky Coll.).
_Hermitage, St. Petersburg._
24. 518. MAGNUS. Constantinople (attributed to).
_a._ Type of No. 21. Changed to wrinkled old man.
_Museo di Castello, Milan._
26. 521. JUSTINIANUS. Constantinople.
_a._ and _b._ Inscribed medallion, four rosettes.
_Trivulzio Collection, Milan._
27. 521. JUSTINIANUS. Constantinople.
_a._ and _b._ Type of No. 26.
_Collection Sigismond Bordac._
28. 521. JUSTINIANUS. Constantinople.
_a._ Type of No. 26 (formerly at Autun).
_Bibliothèque nationale, Paris._
29. 525. PHILOXENUS. Constantinople.
_a._ and _b._ Three linked medallions
(formerly in St. Corneille, Compiègne).
_Bibliothèque nationale, Paris._
30. 525. PHILOXENUS. Constantinople.
_a._ and _b._ Inscribed octagon with scrolls.
_Trivulzio Collection, Milan._
31. 525. PHILOXENUS. Constantinople.
_a._ and _b._ Type of No. 30.
_Mayer Collection, Liverpool Museum._
32. 525. PHILOXENUS. Constantinople.
_a._ and _b._ Type of No. 30 (worn).
_Bibliothèque nationale, Paris._
33. [530?] LAMPADIUS. Constantinople.
Consul behind _cancelli_. Chariot Race.
_Museo Civico, Brescia._
34. 530. ORESTES. Rome.
_a._ and _b._ Cons. type. Two Servants.
_Victoria and Albert Museum, London._
35. 539. ARION. Constantinople.
_a._ and _b._ Bust and scrolls.
_Chapter House of Orviedo Cathedral, Spain._
36. 540. JUSTINUS. Constantinople.
_a._ and _b._ Bust and scrolls. Three medallions.
Two servants.
_Berlin Museum._
37. 541. BASILIUS. Constantinople.
_a._ Consul and Constantinople.
_Castello, Milan._
_b._ Victory.
_Uffizi, Florence._
ANONYMOUS CONSULAR DIPTYCHS
38. V. cent.
_a._ Consul and friends; above, imperial figures enthroned;
below, barbarians.
_b._ Repeated with variations.
_Cathedral Treasury, Halberstadt._
39. V.-VI. cent.
_a._ Consul and two attendants. Below, large scene,
leopard fight.
_b._ Consul and two attendants. Below, large scene,
lions (formerly in Cathedral Treasury).
_Bourges Museum._
40. V.-VI. cent. So-called Apotheosis of Romulus.
Consul borne to Heaven in chariot.
_British Museum._
41. VI. cent.
_b._ Bust in garland, four rosettes.
_Biblioteca Barbarini, Rome._
42. VI. cent. Two worn fragments of a diptych.
Cons. type. (Later carving on back.)
_Victoria and Albert Museum._
_British Museum._
43. VI. cent. Bust and scrolls.
Type of No. 12. Camel bone.
_Mayer Collection, Liverpool Museum._
44. VI. cent.
_a._ Cons. type, sitting.
_b._ Cons. type, standing.
Changed to St. Gregory and King David.
_Tesorio della Basilica, Monza._
45. VI. cent. Cons. type, changed to St. Peter.
_Library of the Metropolitan Chapter House, Prague._
46, 47, 48, 49. VI. cent. Five-piece diptych.
(46) Top. Flying figures.
(47) Bottom. Barbarians.
_Trivulzio Collection, Milan._
(48) Top. Flying figures.
_Basle Museum._
(49) Right side. Consul and Victory.
_Munich Library._
OFFICIAL DIPTYCHS
50. End of IV. or commencement of V. cent.
_Probianus._ Vice-prefect of Rome.
_a._ Sitting, delivering justice. Below, two litigants.
_b._ Sitting with scroll. Below, two litigants.
_Berlin Library._
51. V.-VI. cent.
Above, type of No. 33. Below, fight with elans.
_Mayer Collection, Liverpool Museum._
52. V.-VI. cent.
_a._ and _b._ Games in Circus (varied),
(formerly in Basilewsky Coll.).
_Hermitage, St. Petersburg._
53. VI. cent.
_a._ Rome carrying orb and spear.
_b._ Constantinople carrying cornucopia and palm.
Later inscription _Temperancia_ and _Castitas_.
_Cabinet of Antiquities, Vienna Museum._
54. VI. cent.
_a._ A bald man standing half under a porch.
_b._ Slightly varied pose.
_Cathedral Treasury, Novara._
55. VI. cent. Standing figure.
_Museo Civico, Bologna._
56. VI. cent. Muse, standing (broken, found at Trèves).
_Berlin Museum._
57. VI. cent. (?)
_a._ Figure, sitting.
_Cabinet of Antiquities, Vienna._
_b._ Figure, standing.
_Bargello, Florence._
PRIVATE DIPTYCHS
58. End of IV. or commencement of V. cent.
_a._ Nicomachorum. Draped figure and torch.
_Musée de Cluny, Paris._
_b._ Symmachorum. Draped figure and altar.
_Victoria and Albert Museum, London._
59. V.-VI. cent.
_a._ Hippolytus and Phædra.
_b._ Diana and Endymion.
_Museo Civico, Brescia._
60. VI. cent. Two registers. Dioscuri. Europa and the Bull.
_Trieste Museum._
61. VI. cent.
_a._ Æsculapius.
_b._ Hygeia.
_Mayer Collection, Liverpool._
62. VI. cent.
_a._ Muse with lyre.
_b._ Poet.
_Tesorio della Basilica, Monza._
63. VI. cent.
_a._ and _b._ Authors and Muses, varied poses.
64. VI. cent.
_a._ Bacchus Helios.
_b._ Diana Lucifera (formerly in the Cathedral Treasury).
_Sens Museum._
65. VI. cent. Three registers. Apollo and the Muses (broken).
_Bibliothèque nationale, Paris._
LIST OF MUSEUMS
The following Museums are richest in Mediæval Ivory Carving.
_Austria._
VIENNA. (Cabinet des Antiques),
K. K. Oesterreichisches Museum.
_England._
LONDON. British Museum.
Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington.
(This museum has a large collection of Fictile Ivories.)
Salting Loan Collection.
LIVERPOOL. Mayer Collection. Free Public Museum.
MANCHESTER. John Rylands Library. (Late Crawford Collection.)
OXFORD. Bodleian Library.
_France._
PARIS. Bibliothèque nationale
Cabinet des Médailles. Département des MSS.
Musée de Cluny.
Musée du Louvre.
_German Empire._
BERLIN. Kunstkammer. K. Museum. K. Bibliothek.
MUNICH. K. Staats-Bibliothek. National Bavarian Museum.
_Italy._
BOLOGNA. Museo Civico.
BRESCIA. Museo Civico.
FLORENCE. Museo nazionale. Bargello.
MILAN. Museo archeologico. Castello.
Tesorio del Duomo.
MONZA. Tesorio della Basilica.
RAVENNA. Museo Civico. Duomo.
ROME. Biblioteca Barbarini.
Museo Kircheriano (Collegio Romano).
Vatican. Museo cristiano. Biblioteca.
For the study of Ivory Carvings M. Molinier gives a full bibliography
in his work on _Ivoires_.
For illustrations. Garucci, vol. vi. and the Collections of Photographs
published by Dr. Graeven.
Fictile Ivories for sale, see Oldfield’s Catalogue.
INDEX
Abraxas, 133.
Aix-la-Chapelle, Cathedral, 128.
Aldobrandini, Benci, Bishop of Volterra, crozier of, 152.
Amalasuntha, 7, 30, 31.
Anagni, silver casket at, 80.
Anastasius, diptych of, 24.
Areobindus, diptychs of, 14, 15, 17, 19, 20, 40.
Asturias, diptych of, 13.
Bamberg Missal, 88; reliquary, 118, 119.
Basil II., the Emperor, 95.
Basilewsky tablet, 18.
Basilius, diptych of, 18, 19, 20.
Bateman diptych, 67.
Berlin, Museum, 49, 66, 75, 117, 119, 121, 134.
Bernward, Bishop of Hildesheim, 124, 125, 128.
Besançon, 18.
Boethius, diptych of, 13.
Bologna, Museo Civico, 37, 78, 97.
Bonaffé Collection, 140.
Book covers, 10, 25, 26, 52-57, 110, 112, 113, 116, 117, 118,
121, 123, 125, 134.
Bourges, 22, 29, 40.
Brescia, 21, 32, 34, 39, 42, 43, 48, 78.
Brunswick, 117, 119.
Brussels, Royal Art Museum, 38 _n._
Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, 44.
Carrand diptych, 39-42.
Caskets, Byzantine, 75-84;
Anglo-Saxon, 100;
Carlovingian, 119, 120;
Romanesque, 134;
Gothic, 146, 147.
Chalandon, M., 140.
Charlemagne, 106.
Charles V., inventory of, 136, 144.
Chessboard, 150.
Chessmen, 103, 104.
Christ, representation of, in early times, 50, 51.
Cividale, 78.
Clementinus, diptych of, 36.
Clovis, 22.
Cologne, Museum, 127.
Combs, ceremonial, 126, 127.
Constantine the Great, the Emperor, 27.
Constantine V., the Emperor, 71.
Constantine VI., the Emperor, 71.
Constantine VII., the Emperor, 84.
Consular diptychs, 3, _et seq._
Cortona Reliquary, 85, 92.
Croziers, 131-133, 142, 152.
Darmstadt, 120.
Dresden, 80, 88.
Echternach codex, 121.
Essen, 118.
Etschmiadzin book cover, 52, 55.
Felix, diptych of, 13.
Florence, Bargello, 22, 27, 39-42, 49, 64, 74, 76, 82, 88, 89,
90, 117, 133, 138, 139, 147, 150.
Frankfort, 116.
Garnier, M., 140.
Gérard, Bishop of Limoges, 132.
Gotfredus, Archbishop of Milan, 127.
Grandison, Bishop, triptych of, 152, 153.
Gregory the Great, Pope, 10.
Hadrian, Pope, 36.
Halberstadt, Cathedral, 21.
Hanover, Provincial Museum, 90.
Harbaville triptych, 85, 86, 87, 90, 92.
Heraklius, the Emperor, 66, 67.
Honorius, the Emperor, 5, 12, 13, 18.
Iconoclasm of the Emperors, 70-75.
Irene, the Empress, 29, 71, 72, 74.
Justinian, the Emperor, 6, 7, 18, 20, 28.
Lampadius, tablet of, 21, 22.
Le Bourget, Church, 140.
Leo III., the Emperor, 70, 71.
Leo VI., the Emperor, 75.
Liège, Episcopal Museum, 90.
Lipsanoteca, the, 42.
Liverpool Museum, 17, 20, 21, 33, 36, 58, 92, 121, 145, 149, 150.
London, British Museum, 5, 23, 43, 44, 46, 47, 48, 55, 64, 67, 68,
75, 78, 100, 102, 103, 110, 120, 127, 128,
131, 133, 134, 144, 147, 152, 153.
—— Victoria and Albert Museum, 12, 32, 35, 48, 56, 68, 73, 74, 76,
77, 80, 98, 101, 102, 103, 115, 125,
131, 142, 143, 144, 151, 152, 154, 155.
Lorsch, Abbey of, 125.
Manchester, John Rylands Library, 122, 123, 154.
Maximian, the Throne of, 49, 52, 54, 58-67, 92.
Melisanda, Princess, 134.
Metz, Cathedral, 55, 114.
Meyrick Collection, 151.
Milan, Castello, 67.
—— Cathedral, 56, 58, 127.
—— Trivulzio Collection, 25, 43, 44, 45, 46, 48, 58, 68, 91,
118, 124.
Mirror covers, 148, 149.
Monza, Basilica at, 10, 22, 24, 31, 33, 99, 114.
Mopsuete, Council of, 35.
Morard, Abbot, 132.
Munich, Library, 26, 118, 119, 144.
—— Museum, 48, 58.
Nancy, Cathedral, 127.
Nicephorus Phocas, 85, 95.
Nicolle, Jehan, 144.
Nicomachi and Symmachi, diptych of the, 12, 35, 45.
Oliphants, 73, 74.
Orestes, diptych of, 6, 7, 14, 16, 17, 22, 31.
Otto the Great, the Emperor, 118.
Otto II., the Emperor, 124.
Otto III., the Emperor, 65 _n._, 124.
Oxford, Bodleian, 126.
Paris, Louvre, 40, 45 _n._, 69, 75, 87, 90, 110, 119, 134,
135-141, 150, 152, 154.
Paris Bibliothèque nationale, 13, 20, 34, 52, 55, 57, 92, 93,
110, 115.
—— Musée de Cluny, 12, 32, 49, 51, 76, 83, 114, 118, 122,
134, 149.
—— Collection Martin le Roy, 142.
Pavia, Certosa, 154.
Philoxenus, diptych of, 20.
Pirano casket, 78.
Poissy, Abbey of, 154.
Prague, 25.
Probianus, diptych of, 7, 8, 45, 49, 55, 110.
Probus, diptych of, 8, 9, 12.
Pyxes, 48-51.
Quedlinburg, 120.
Quirinalis diptychon, 32.
Rambona, diptych of, 97.
Ravenna, 4, 13, 26, 27, 28, 50, 52, 53, 58-67, 74.
Romanus and Eudoxia, 13, 92, 93.
Rome, Barbarini Library, 20, 27.
—— Kircherian Museum, 28, 81, 82.
—— Monastery of St. Gregory, 132.
—— St. Peter’s, the Throne of St. Peter, 83.
—— Count Stroganoff, 62, 90, 92.
—— Vatican, 97, 125, 126.
Romulus, the Apotheosis of, 23.
Rouen Cathedral, Ivory Book of, 37, 38.
St. Barnaby, relics of, 135.
St. Caletricus, Bishop of Chartres, 99.
St. Columba, 105.
St. Columbanus, 105.
St. Gall, monastery of, 105, 111, 112, 113, 114, 117, 130.
St. Gauzelin, comb of, 127.
St. Gregory and King David, 22, 24, 25, 31.
St. Gregory, crozier of, 132.
St. Heribert, comb of, 127.
St. Ives, Bishop of Chartres, 133.
St. Loup, comb of, 127.
St. Lupicien, Ivory Book of, 50, 52, 54.
St. Nicasius, diptych of, 130.
St. Petersburg, 18, 114, 128.
Salerno, Cathedral, 98.
Salting Collection, 144, 151, 152.
Sens, Cathedral, 127.
Sividius, diptych of, 14.
Soltykoff Collection, 152.
Spitzer Collection, 116, 151, 152.
Stilicho, diptych of, 11, 12.
Symmachus, 6.
Symmachi, diptych of the, 12, 32, 48.
Telemachus, 18.
Theodolinda, Queen, 10, 99.
Theodora, the Empress, 72.
Theodosius I., the Emperor, 3, 5, 21.
Theophano, the Empress, 121, 122, 124.
Theophilus, the Emperor, 72.
Tongres, Cathedral, 38, 67, 118.
Tournai, Cathedral, 130.
Trèves, Cathedral, 68, 69.
Troyes, Cathedral, 84.
Tuotilo, 111, 112.
_Urcei_, 127, 128.
Utrecht, Episcopal Museum, 90.
Venice, Doge’s Palace, 90.
Veroli casket, 76, 77, 78, 82.
Vienna, Museum, 27, 28, 74, 78, 90.
Volterra casket, 76, 83.
Werden, casket of, 56.
Zurich, 33, 108, 109.
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