The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 19, 2024

Plaque from a Portable Altar: Christ and the Apostles

Plaque from a Portable Altar: Christ and the Apostles

1050–1100
walrus ivory
Overall: 5.1 x 16.5 cm (2 x 6 1/2 in.)
Gift of J. H. Wade 1922.307.a
Location: 106C Medieval Treasury

Description

This intricately carved ivory panel once decorated the side of a portable altar. One of three it depicts Christ in Majesty and his apostles, and was the first major acquisition of William M. Milliken, the museum's first curator of decorative arts and later director (1930–1958). As Milliken later recalled, the pieces "were immensely intriguing, monumental in scale, even if tiny in size, the Christ in the mandorla could have been enlarged and would have graced the tympanum of a great cathedral."
  • [Arnold Seligmann, Rey and Company, Inc., New York.]
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1925. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 13 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1928. Reproduced: p. 11 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 99 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 48 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 48 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 52 archive.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art, and Holger A. Klein. Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 16-17
  • CMA, June 7 - Spetmeber 8, 1991: "Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum."
  • {{cite web|title=Plaque from a Portable Altar: Christ and the Apostles|url=false|author=|year=1050–1100|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1922.307.a