Crucifixion with the Virgin and saint John the Evangelist; swooning Virgin supported by Holy Women; saint John the Evangelist and onlookers.
Koechlin 1924: France, late 14th century (no. 877).
Museum's opinion 2011: France, 15th century.
Attribution
Unknown
Reverse
Inside the box are two depressions of different sizes and, in the upper part of the panel, three slots with ends shaped like semi-circles.
Object Condition
Three holes in the raised strips in the upper part of the panel (when seen from the back). Hole in the upper right corner (only visible from the front).
Comments
This may have been a painter's box and the slots were probably intended to contain the pigments which were retained here with swivelling straps of ivory, as is indicated by the circular marks around the drilled holes. The open spaces were probably used as palettes (see R. H. Randall, The Golden Age of Ivory: Gothic Ivory Carvings in North American Collections (New York, 1993), no. 136 and 162 for similar pieces).
Provenance
Unknown.
Bibliography
R. Koechlin, Les Ivoires gothiques français (Paris, 1924), I, p. 220; II, no. 597 and 877 (it seems that Koechlin mistakenly created two entries for a single object).
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