Gothic Ivories Project | Diptych, 1 register, 2 arches across (frise d'arcatures; plaquettes) (Front)

Wing, left
Deposition with the Virgin holding Christ's arm; Joseph of Arimathea holding Christ's body; man with pincers removing the nail from Christ's feet; saint John the Evangelist holding a book.
Wing, right
Two standing apostles, each holding a book.
Border of dentils; roses in the spandrels.

Koechlin 1924: France, 1st third of the 14th century.
Museum's opinion 2010: French (?). The left wing may be 14th century, the right wing is definitely 19th century.

Attribution
Unknown

Polychromy - Gilding
Traces of gilding in the haloes of the two apostles. Traces of polychromy: green (lining of the apostles's cloaks).

Reverse
Flat and smooth with rounded edges.

Object Condition
The ivory has been pieced diagonally across the upper corners.
Bottom edge made of a separate piece of ivory (addition or replacement?). Repair to the left edge.

Provenance
Collection of Alfred André, restorer of art works, Paris: his sale, Paris, 23-24 April 1920, lot 289 (with ill.). Acquired by Henry Walters, possibly in 1900; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Bibliography
R. Koechlin, Les Ivoires gothiques français (Paris, 1924), II, no. 503.

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