{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O88318"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O88318/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2009CA7169/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2009CA7169/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2009CA7169","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2009CA7170","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AF0040","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017KB8057","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2019LY0774","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O88318/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O88318","accessionNumber":"303-1867","objectType":"relief","titles":[{"title":"The Crucifixion","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"This carved ivory panel depicting the Crucifixion shares a distinctive patterned border and the use of inlay with other examples made for Emperor Charles the Bald (823-77). It was probably part of the decoration of a book cover and is likely to have been made at Reims, one of the main centres of manuscript illumination in the Carolingian period. ","physicalDescription":"Christ is shown crucified, with the serpent at the foot of the cross and with the <i>titulus</i> above his head inscribed IHS. The edges of the cross are picked out with a series of pricked dots. The four figures flanking Christ stand on swirling, cloud-like grounds: on the left the Virgin and Longinus with his spear, on the right St John the Evangelist and Stephaton with the sponge. Below, eight of the dead rise from their tombs, and six angels float in clouds above the arms of the cross, all gesturing towards Christ; at the top are personifications of the Sun and Moon. There is a narrow inner border of leaves and an outer border of alternating lozenges and circles.  \n\nThe surface of the relief has been considerably rubbbed, especially the heads, which have lost much of their detail. The upper part of Stephaton's rod has broken and been repaired with a sliver of wood. Above the <i>titulus</i> there was a dove which turned out to be a nineteenth-century insertion (illustrated in Goldschmidt, vol. 1, 1914, pl. L); this was removed shortly before 1927, leaving the filled circle now visible. It is likely that this space was originally occupied by the Hand of Gold holding a crown or wreath above Christ's head, a feature seen on a number of other Carolingian ivory plaques of the Crucifixion; the flower set in this position on a closely-related Crucifixion plaque in Paris is most unusual and perhaps not original. The lozenges and circles of the outer border, the halo and loincloth of Christ, and the clouds below the feet of the angels were probably all originally inset with gold foil, none of which remains. The large circular hole above the cross is presumably post-medieval and was probably made for hanging the plaque on a wall.\n\nThe back is plain, and has been lightly cross-hatched to aid adhesion to a book-cover; the bottom edge of the rear surface has been shaved and bevelled, again possibly to ease installation into a book-cover recess. The irregularly-shaped indentation on the back might have been excavated to remove a natural imperfection or possibly to hold a small relic. At the top, above the hole, are incised the ltters HP.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"AUTH317916"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"ivory","id":"AAT11857"}],"techniques":[{"text":"high relief","id":"AAT53626"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"carved elephant ivory","categories":[{"text":"Christianity","id":"THES48978"},{"text":"Sculpture","id":"THES48896"},{"text":"Religion","id":"THES48900"},{"text":"Reliefs","id":"THES49035"},{"text":"Plaques & Plaquettes","id":"THES49031"}],"styles":[{"text":"Carolingian","id":"AAT20764"}],"collectionCode":{"text":"SCP","id":"THES48600"},"images":["2009CA7169","2009CA7170","2006AF0040","2017KB8057","2019LY0774"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"8","id":"THES49714"},"free":"","case":"CA11","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"relief","id":"AAT53622"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Reims","id":"x32630"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"probably"},{"place":{"text":"Saint-Denis","id":"x32646"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 860-870","earliest":"0855-01-01","latest":"0870-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"13.8","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"7.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"1.2","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Weight","value":"0.1","unit":"kg","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"Measured for the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries 2005","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Purchased from T.J. Bartlett, London, £10.\r\n\r\nAdolph Goldschmidt first associated this plaque with two other Crucifixion panels in the Louvre in Paris and the Bargello in Florence and a plaque showing King David enthroned, also in Florence; all share the same borders and gold-foil inlaid decoration (Goldschmidt, 1914, cat. nos 111-14, pl. L). Within this small group, however, the London Crucifixion and David plaques are of higher quality than the other two, and the Paris Crucifixion appears to be an inferior, perhaps slighty later, copy of the present plaque; the figures are clumsier, lacking the dynamic vitality of their models, and with coarser head types (Gaborit-Chopin 2003, cat. no 46). \r\n\r\nAs Goldschmidt observed, the London plaque, while sharing features common to the Later Metz ivories, is also linked stylistically with the earlier Liuthard Group; of the four ivories, only this one has the distinctive undulating cloud-like grounds with drilled circular incisions so characteristic of the best Liuthard ivories, such as those from the Prayer Book of Charles the Bald. \r\n\r\nDanielle Gaborit-Chopin has further linked the group with an ivory plaque with scenes from the Life of St Remigius of Reims, now in Amiens, which employs a similar form of gold foil inlay but which seems to be by a different hand (Gaborit-Chopin 1978, p. 68, fig. 83; Gaborit-Chopin 2003, p. 168).","historicalContext":"It is likely that this relief once was part of the decoration of a book cover. ","briefDescription":"The Crucifixion, carved elephant ivory, Court School of Charles the Bald, Reims or Saint-Denis, ca. 860-70","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"'Inventory of Art Objects acquired in the Year 1867', in <i>Inventory of the Objects in the Art Division of the Museum at South Kensington, arranged According to the Dates of their Acquisition: Vol. 1</i>, London: Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode for H.M.S.O., 1868, p. 11"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Maskell, William. <i>A Description of the Ivories Ancient and Medieval in the South Kensington Museum</i>, London: Chapman & Hall, 1872, p. 126."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Graeven, Hans. <i>Frühchristliche und mittelalterliche Elfenbeinwerke in photographischer Nachbildung, Serie I. Aus Sammlungen in England</i>, Rome: [Istituto archeologico germanico], 1898, cat. no 66."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Venturi, Adolfo. <i>Storia dell'arte italiana</i>. Vol. 2: <i>Dall'arte barbarica alla romanica</i>, Milan: Hoepli, fig. 163."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Goldschmidt, Adolph. <i>Die Elfenbeinskulpturen aus der Zeit der karolingischen und sächsischen Kaiser, VIII.-XI. Jahrhundert</i> (Elfenbeinskulpturen I), Berlin: Cassirer, 1914, cat. no 112, pl. 1."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Longhurst, Margaret H. <i>Catalogue of Carvings in Ivory</i>, London: Published under the Authority of the Board of Education, 1927-1929, part 1, pp. 69-70, pl. XLIX."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Gaborit-Chopin, Danielle. <i>Ivoires du Moyen Âge</i>, Fribourg: Office du Livre, 1978, p. 68"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Gaborit-Chopin, Danielle. <i>Avori medievali</i>, Florence: Museo nazionale del Bargello, 1988, p. 44."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Lasko, Peter. <i>Ars Sacra, 800-1200</i>, 2nd ed., New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1994, pp. 61-62, pl. 82."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Peter, Michael. 'Das karolingische Elfenbeinkästchen im Schatz der Quedlinburger Stiftskirche', <i>Zeitschrift des Deutschen Vereins für Kunstwissenschaft</i> 52-53 (1988-1999): 53-92, here p. 76."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Gaborit-Chopin, Danielle. <i>Ivoires médiévaux V<sup>e</sup>-XV<sup>e</sup> siècle</i>, Paris: Éditions de la Réunion des musées nationaux, 2003, p. 168, fig. 46a."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Williamson, Paul. <i>Medieval Ivory Carvings. Early Christian to Romanesque</i>, London: V&A Publishing, 2010, pp. 180-181, cat.no. 43."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Ciseri, Ilaria (ed.). <i>Gli avori del museo nazionale del Bargello</i>, Milan: Officina Libraria, 2018, pp. 103, 106 (Danielle Gaborit-Chopin)."}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"Unique","id":"THES48864"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[{"text":"Jesus Christ","id":"N2525"},{"text":"Mary (Virgin Mary)","id":"N480"},{"text":"Longinus","id":"N411"},{"text":"Stephaton","id":"N410"},{"text":"St. John the Baptist","id":"N827"}],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[{"text":"The Crucifixion","id":"V106"}],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"serpents (animal)","id":"x36090"},{"text":"spear","id":"AAT37038"},{"text":"angel","id":"x30526"},{"text":"cross","id":"x31528"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["303-1867"],"accessionNumberNum":"303","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1867,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":["2019LN2889","2019LT9717"],"recordModificationDate":"2026-04-17","recordCreationDate":"2003-12-30","availableToBook":false}}