The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of May 8, 2026

A carved ivory relief depicts Zacharias standing by a draped altar under a scale-patterned arch. He raises a small object as a winged figure flies above, pointing toward him. Behind him, a bearded man carrying a vessel and a woman stand in a row. The composition is framed by two columns on a textured base. Small holes and fine vertical cracks punctuate the background between the figures.

Plaque from a Portable Altar: Zacharias at the Altar

c. 1100–1125

Germany, Rhine Valley, Cologne?, Romanesque period, 12th century

ivory
Overall: 8.6 x 7.7 cm (3 3/8 x 3 1/16 in.)
Gift of John L. Severance in memory of J. H. Wade 1926.212
Location: 106C Medieval Treasury

Description

This delicate ivory plaque may once have decorated a side of a portable altar. It likely depicts the angel of the Lord appearing to the priest Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, at the altar in the temple. Like the identity of the object in Zacharias’s hands, the identity of the couple accompanying the priest remains unclear.
  • Count Pourtales, St. Petersburg; (Durlacher Brothers, New York).
  • W. M. M. “A Romanesque Ivory.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 13, no. 8 (October 1926): 176–178. Mentioned: p. 176-178 www.jstor.org
    Milliken, William. "Mr. Severance's Gifts to the Museum." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 23, no. 2 (February 1936): 17-27 Reproduced: p. 24; Mentioned: p. 25-26 www.jstor.org
  • The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941).
  • {{cite web|title=Plaque from a Portable Altar: Zacharias at the Altar|url=false|author=|year=c. 1100–1125|access-date=08 May 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1926.212