Diptych

14th century

French

On View

European: Medieval, Level 2, Central Wing

Image Only Image + Details All Images High Resolution TIFF Metadata

About the Artwork

Please note: This section is empty
Markings

Please note: This section is empty

This section contains information about signatures, inscriptions and/or markings an object may have.
Provenance

Please note: This section is empty

Provenance is a record of an object's ownership. We are continually researching and updating this information to show a more accurate record and to ensure that this object was ethically and legally obtained.

For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:
Exhibition History

Please note: This section is empty

The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.
Published References

Please note: This section is empty

We regularly update our object record as new research and findings emerge, and we welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.
Catalogue Raisonné

Please note: This section is empty

A catalogue raisonné is an annotated listing of artworks created by an artist across different media.
Credit Line for Reproduction

Please note: This section is empty

The credit line includes information about the object, such as the artist, title, date, and medium. Also listed is its ownership, the manner in which it was acquired, and its accession number. This information must be cited alongside the object whenever it is shown or reproduced.

About the Artwork

As ivory from African elephants became widely available through Mediterranean trade during the thirteenth century, it quickly surpassed the colorful enamel produced in Limoges as the dominant material for luxury liturgical products as well as for secular items. Diptychs for use in private devotion such as this example were carved in great numbers, often in professional workshops, especially during the fourteenth century. The narrative is read from left to right starting at the bottom: the Annunciation, Visitation, Annunciation to the Shepherds, Nativity, Adoration of Magi, Presentation in the Temple, Christ among the Doctors, Marriage at Cana, Last Supper, Crucifixion, Resurrection, Ascension, Pentecost, and Coronation of the Virgin.

Title Diptych

Artwork Date 14th century

Artist ----------

Life Dates ----------

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. French

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. French

Medium Elephant ivory, with traces of polychromy

Dimensions Overall: 9 13/16 × 10 3/8 × 5/16 inches (24.9 × 26.4 × 0.8 cm) Overall (left panel): 9 13/16 × 5 1/8 × 5/16 inches (24.9 × 13 × 0.8 cm) Overall (right panel): 9 13/16 × 5 3/16 × 5/16 inches (24.9 × 13.2 × 0.8 cm)

Classification Sculpture

Department European Sculpture and Dec Arts

Credit Gift of Robert H. Tannahill

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 40.165

Markings

Inscriptions ------

Provenance

possibly Laon Cathedral (Laon, France). until 1922, Maurice Sulzbach (Paris, France)

by 1928, (Arnold Seligmann, Rey and Co., Inc., New York, New York, USA)

until 1940, Robert H. Tannahill [1893-1969] (Grosse Pointe, Michigan, USA)

1940-present, gift to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

Please note: This section is empty

The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.

Suggest Feedback

Published References

Robinson, F.W. "A French Gothic Ivory Diptych." Bulletin of the DIA 20, no. 8 (May 1941): pp. 74-77.

Robinson, F.W. "Recent Aquisitions: The Ivory Diptych at Detroit." The Art Quarterly IV, no. 2 (Spring 1941): pp.146-152 (ill.).

Calkins, R. A Medieval Treasury. Exh. cat., Cornell University Andrew Dickson White Museum of Art. Ithaca, 1968, no. 74, pp. 152-153 (ill.).

Walsh, D.A. "Notes on the Icongraphy of a Fourteenth-Century Ivory." Porticus 7 (1984), p. 5, fig. 5 (ill.).

Randall, Jr., R.H. The Golden Age of Ivory: Gothic Carvings in North American Collections. New York, 1993, p. 67.

Barnet, P., ed. Images in Ivory: Precious Objects of the Gothic Age. Exh. cat., Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1997, cat. no. 24, pp. 157-158 (ill.).

Stahl, H. "Narrative Structure and Content in Some Gothic Ivories of the Life of Christ." in Images in Ivory: Precious Objects of the Gothic Age, p. 107; p. 106, fig. VII-8 (ill.).

Kindly share your feedback or any additional information, as this record is still a work in progress and may need further refinement.

Suggest Feedback