Koechlin 1924: France, end of the 15th century.
Egbert 1929: North Italy, late 15th century.
Merati 1963: French, end of the 15th century.
Conti 1966: 15th century.
Vitali 1966: French, beginning of the 15th century.
Karlsruhe 1999: Northern Netherlands, 15th century.
Museum's opinion 2014: French, 14th century.
Attribution
Unknown
Hinges
Two sets of two hinges on either side.
Polychromy - Gilding
Traces of gilding and polychromy: gold (Virgin's crown; fleur de lys; canopy; base inscription) and green (Virgin's clothing).
Object Condition
The order of some of the panels has been changed over time.
Comments
Some of the panels seem to have been later remounted in the wrong order (see Adoration of the Magi).
According to tradition, Cardinal Carlo Borromeo (1538-1584) used to address to it his plea during the Great Plague of Milan in 1630.
Provenance
Gift of Countess Carolina Durini Trotti (b. 1762, d. 1833), Taverna, in 1825.
Bibliography
X. Barbier de Montault, 'Revue de l'art chrétien' (1902), p. 225.
R. Koechlin, Les Ivoires gothiques français (Paris, 1924), I, p. 339; II, no. 950.
D. D. Egbert, 'North Italian Gothic Ivories in the Museo Cristiano of the Vatican Library', in Art Studies 7 (1929), pp. 168-207 [p. 194-195, fig. 46].
A. Merati, Il tesoro del Duomo di Monza (Monza, 1963), p. 63, fig. 61.
Il Tesoro del Duomo di Monza, dir. by L. Vitali (Milan, 1966), no. 113, p. 151.
R. Conti, Il Tesoro: guida alla conoscenza del Tesoro del Duomo di Monza (Monza, 1966), no. 49, p. 70.
R. Conti, Il Tesoro, Museo del Duomo (Monza, 1983), no. 49.
G. Morello, 'Gli avori della collezione Durini Trotti', in Monza. Il Duomo e i suoi tesori, dir. by R. Conti (Milan, 1988), pp. 70-71.
Mittelalterliche Elfenbeinarbeiten aus der Sammlung des Badischen Landesmuseums Karlsruhe, ed. by K.-G. Beuckers (Karlsruhe, 1999), pp. 88-89, fig. 61.
P. Williamson and G. Davies, Medieval Ivory Carvings 1200-1550 (London, 2014), in relation to no. 175.
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