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Diptych, 1 register, 3 arches across, bands of rosettes (plaquettes; frise d'arcatures; décor de roses); also known as the 'Kremsmünster Diptych' (Wing, right)

Diptych, 1 register, 3 arches across, bands of rosettes (plaquettes; frise d'arcatures; décor de roses); also known as the 'Kremsmünster Diptych' (Wing, right)
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Front

Front

Wing, left

Subject
Religious. Life of Christ.

Repository Institution
www.stift-kremsmuenster.at

To purchase an image
www.stift-kremsmuenster.at


Kremsmünster, Stift Kremsmünster

ÖKT volume 43/1 page 528

Ivory;enamel;silver (hinges and frame)

Height: 155mm
Width: 106mm (each)

Wing, left
Adoration of the Magi; magus taking off his crown; Virgin holding a flower stem in her right hand; angel crowning the Virgin; angel holding a scroll; throne decorated with a band of pierced quatrefoils.
Wing, right
Crucifixion, with jet of blood striking the Virgin's chest; swooning Virgin supported by Holy Women; saint John the Evangelist and onlookers holding scrolls; cruciform halo; angels holding the hands of Christ; skull of Adam at the foot of the cross; sun and moon.
Tiled roof or brickwork; pinnacles; capitals decorated with animal heads (lion heads?).


Koechlin Number: 0824

Koechlin 1924: France, 2nd half of 14th century.
Natanson 1951: French (?), c. 1370-1380.
Vienna 1964: French, 2nd half of the 14th century.
Darmstadt 1999: French (Paris) or Rhenish, late 14th century.
Institution's opinion 2013: France (Paris), mid 14th century.


Attribution
Kremsmünster Master

Hinges
Two hinges.

Reverse
Silver frame bearing the enamelled coat of arms of Baron von Zimmer (contemporary or slightly later).

Comments
This diptych is the eponymous work of the Kremsmünster Master.

Provenance
Collection of Baron von Zimmer, 14th century (see coat of arms on the back of the mount). Kremsmünster Abbey Treasury. Listed in an inventory dated 1740 as being in the Abbey's 'Chamber of Mathematics', with the following comment: 'Von gotischer, doch mühsam und künstlicher Arbeit' (Koechlin 1924).

Bibliography
J. O. Westwood, Fictile Ivories in the South Kensington Museum (London, 1876), Appendix, p. 455.
K. Lind, 'Einige ältere Elfenbeinarbeiten kirchlicher Bestimmung', in Mittheilungen der K. K. Central-Commission zur Erforschung und Erhaltung der Kunst und historischen Denkmale, year VIII (Vienna, 1882), pp. 129-135, pl. II.
Kunsthistorische Gegenstände der Austellung zu Steyer (1884), pl. II.
Christliche Kunstausstellung, exhibition catalogue, Vienna, 1887, no. 958.
R. Koechlin, 'Un atelier d'ivoirier au XIVe siècle', in Bulletin de l'art français (1910), pp. 16-19 (p. 16).
R. Koechlin, 'Ivoire gothiques connus antérieurement au XIXe siècle', in Revue de l'art chrétien, 59 (1911), p. 27.
R. Koechlin, 'Quelques ivoires gothiques français connus antérieurement au XIXe siècle', in Revue de l'Art Chrétien 41 (1911), pp. 387-402, fig. 28.
R. Koechlin, Les Ivoires gothiques français (Paris, 1924), I, pp. 34, 219, 246, 299, 301, 302, 303, 355; II, no. 824.
Katalog der Sammlung für Plastik und Kunstgewerbe (Vienna, 1964), I. Mittelalter, no. 14 (mistakenly designated as Koechlin 491).
Meisterwerke aus Elfenbein der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin, exhibition catalogue, Darmstadt, Hessisches Landesmuseum and Munich, Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, 1999, pp. 99-100 (with fig.).


Image

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