Collection Online as of June 6, 2023

Diptych with Scenes from the Life of Saint Martin of Tours: The Consecration of Saint Martin as Bishop (left); Saint Martin Shares his Cloak with a Beggar

1340–1350

Germany, Cologne, 14th century

Ivory with polychromy and gilding, original silver hinges

Overall: 9.2 cm (3 5/8 in.); Closed: 5.2 cm (2 1/16 in.)

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1971.103

Location

109 Gothic Painting and Sculpture

Description

This beautiful and well-preserved diptych includes its original polychromy, gilding, and silver hinges, though these are no longer connected. With its lapis background, red roof tiles, and gilded details of the figures’ clothing, the appearance is one of luxuriousness. The diptych provides us with a rare and vivid impression of how such devotional ivories were originally decorated in the 1300s.

Provenance

Ozenfant, Lille

Private Collection, Northern France

Ozenfant, Lille; Private Collection, Northern France

Citations

Barnet, Peter. Images in Ivory: Precious Objects of the Gothic Age. Detroit, MI: Detroit Institute of Arts, 1997. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 198-199

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 61 archive.org

Täube , Dagmar von, Miriam Verena Fleck, eds. Glanz und Grösse des Mittelalters: Kölner Meisterwerke aus den grossen Sammlungen der Welt. München, Germany: Hirmer Verlag, 2011. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 271-273

Exhibition history

Year in Review: 1971. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 28, 1971-February 6, 1972).

Images in Ivory: Precious Objects from the Gothic Age. The Detroit Institute of Arts (organizer) (March 7-May 11, 1997); The Walters Art Museum (June 21-August 31, 1997).

Splendour and Glory of the Middle Ages: Cologne's Masterpieces from the World's Great Collections. Museum Schnütgen, Cologne, Germany (organizer) (November 4, 2011-February 26, 2012).