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Descent from the Cross
Northern Italian
Italo-Byzantine
1180–1200
Object Place: Europe, Italy
Medium/Technique
Ivory
Dimensions
15.87 x 11.43 cm (6 1/4 x 4 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Martha Silsbee Fund
Accession Number34.1462
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsSculpture
DescriptionThis is a single panel that was possibly part of a triptych or multip panel ivory icon.
This representation of the Deposition of Christ follows the account in the Gospel of John 19:38-42. Joseph of Arimathea stands on a ladder to lift the body down while Nicodemus at the foot of the cross removes a nail from Christ’s foot. The mournful Virgin standing on a stool takes her son’s hand on the right as Saint John looks on sorrowfully. The holes in the frame indicate that this was one scene in a larger icon composed of a collection of scenes from the life of Christ. Most likely this was made in Northern Italy following the fall of Constantinople to the Crusaders in 1204 when much Byzantine portable art and treasure was carried away to the West, especially to Venice.
Several cracks. 3 bored holes across top and bottom bands.
This representation of the Deposition of Christ follows the account in the Gospel of John 19:38-42. Joseph of Arimathea stands on a ladder to lift the body down while Nicodemus at the foot of the cross removes a nail from Christ’s foot. The mournful Virgin standing on a stool takes her son’s hand on the right as Saint John looks on sorrowfully. The holes in the frame indicate that this was one scene in a larger icon composed of a collection of scenes from the life of Christ. Most likely this was made in Northern Italy following the fall of Constantinople to the Crusaders in 1204 when much Byzantine portable art and treasure was carried away to the West, especially to Venice.
Several cracks. 3 bored holes across top and bottom bands.
ProvenanceBy 1816, Marchese Gian Giacomo Trivulzio (b. 1776 – d. 1831), Milan; by descent to his great-grandson, Luigi Alberico Trivulzio (b. 1868 – d. 1938), Milan; 1933, sold by Prince Trivulzio [see note 1]. 1934, Arnold Seligmann, Rey and Co., New York [see note 2]; 1934, sold by Arnold Seligmann, Rey and Co. to the the MFA for $6000. (Accession Date: December 6, 1934)
NOTES:
[1] On the history of the ivory in the Trivulzio collection, see A. Squizzato and F. Tasso, Gli Avori Trivulzio (Padua, 2017), pp. 211-212, cat. no. 18. When it was lent to the Esposizione Storica d'Arte Industriale in Milano (1874), cat. no. 7, it was attributed to a 15th- century German artist. In 1934 it was published by A. Goldschmidt and K. Weitzmann, Die Byzantinischen Elfenbeinskulpturen des X. bis XIII. Jahrhunderts (Berlin, 1934), vol. 2: p. 78, fig. 220, pl. 70, as being on the art market, having been in the collection of the Prince Trivulzio in Milan until 1933.
[2] The ivory has a French customs stamp on the reverse, indicating that it passed through France, probably the Paris branch of the gallery, Arnold Seligmann et Cie.
NOTES:
[1] On the history of the ivory in the Trivulzio collection, see A. Squizzato and F. Tasso, Gli Avori Trivulzio (Padua, 2017), pp. 211-212, cat. no. 18. When it was lent to the Esposizione Storica d'Arte Industriale in Milano (1874), cat. no. 7, it was attributed to a 15th- century German artist. In 1934 it was published by A. Goldschmidt and K. Weitzmann, Die Byzantinischen Elfenbeinskulpturen des X. bis XIII. Jahrhunderts (Berlin, 1934), vol. 2: p. 78, fig. 220, pl. 70, as being on the art market, having been in the collection of the Prince Trivulzio in Milan until 1933.
[2] The ivory has a French customs stamp on the reverse, indicating that it passed through France, probably the Paris branch of the gallery, Arnold Seligmann et Cie.