Deposition with the Virgin holding Christ's hand; Joseph of Arimathea holding Christ's body; body of Christ lowered with a sling; man with pincers removing the nail from Christ's feet; rugged cross; ladders; saint John the Evangelist; skull of Adam at the foot of the cross; cruciform halo.
Randall 1993: French (Avignon?) or Italian (Venice?), 1st quarter of the 14th century. 'While the carving of the hair and face types of the male figures is in the Paris tradition, the composition is Byzantine in origin, and the head of the Virgin relates to Italian works of the 13th century'.
Attribution
Unknown
Hinges
Traces of two missing hinges on the right side.
Polychromy - Gilding
Traces of gilding (hair).
Reverse
Flat and smooth with remains of paper backing and glue.
Eight nails fastened through the back hold the silver frame to the ivory.
Object Condition
Eight holes along the edges to attach the metal frame.
Comments
The wing was probably turned into an single devotional image at a later date, possibly in the 15th century, judging from the frame (Randall 1993).
Provenance
Norbert Schimmel collection, New York: given by him in 1957.
Bibliography
The World as Symbol: An Exhibition of Medieval Art, exhibition catalogue, New York, Queens College, 1959, no. 56.
The Queens College Art Collection, exhibition catalogue, New York, Queens College, 1960, no. 231.
R. H. Randall, The Golden Age of Ivory: Gothic Ivory Carvings in North American Collections (New York, 1993), no. 56.
Director's Choice, Part I, exhibition catalogue, New York, Queens College, 2002.
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