Set of 17 ivory panels illustrating episodes of Christ's life
Christ receiving the cathedral from Otto I, Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Magdeburg Ivories are a set of 16 surviving ivory panels illustrating episodes of Christ's life. They were commissioned by Emperor Otto I, probably to mark the dedication of Magdeburg Cathedral, and the raising of the Magdeburg see to an archbishopric in 968.[1] The panels were initially part of an unknown object in the cathedral that has been variously conjectured to be an antependium or altar front, a throne, door, pulpit, or an ambon; traditionally this conjectural object, and therefore the ivories as a group, has been called the Magdeburg Antependium. This object is believed to have been dismantled or destroyed in the 1000s, perhaps after a fire in 1049.[2]
They are often assumed to have been made in Milan, then an important political and artistic center of the Holy Roman Empire;[3] art historian Peter Lasko, however, has argued on stylistic grounds for artists trained in the Lorraine area, possibly in Metz.[4] The group of plaques is widely considered a key example of Ottonian art,[5] exemplifying in sculpture the Ottonian style that survives more often in manuscript illustrations.
Christ appears to his disciples, and Doubting Thomas, Bavarian National Museum
^Lasko, 88; some sources say there are 17 plaques, but a clear majority say 16.
^Lasko, 89; "Plaque with Christ Receiving Magdeburg Cathedral from Emperor Otto I". Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
^"The Art of Ivory and Gold in Northern Europe around 1000 A.D." Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
^Lasko, 89–90. He points out that workshops serving the imperial elite may well have been rather mobile.
The MagdeburgIvories are a set of 16 surviving ivory panels illustrating episodes of Christ's life. They were commissioned by Emperor Otto I, probably...
transept against his wishes. The MagdeburgIvories, 17 carved panels thought to be created for an unidentified object in Magdeburg Cathedral around the time...
with mosaics and icons. Richly decorated ivory panels, such as the Harbaville Triptych, show the renewal of ivory carving during the same period. Examples...
(perhaps by Otto I) for Magdeburg Cathedral and are called the MagdeburgIvories, "Magdeburg plaques", the "plaques from the Magdeburg Antependium" or similar...
presence. 44 depictions of Pilate predate the sixth century and are found on ivory, in mosaics, in manuscripts as well as on sarcophagi. Pilate's iconography...
Stele of Ushumgal, the Elamite silver Kneeling Bull with Vessel, the Pratt Ivories, and a set of monumental stone lamassu, or guardian figures, from the Northwest...
(Normandy), c. 1250–1300 Enthroned Virgin and Child, ivory, English, c. 1290–1300 The Crucified Christ, ivory, from Paris, c. 1300 Leaf from the Hours of Jeanne...
millennium. Tokens made of ivory with a notch at the top found at Megiddo have been linked to board games. In this site, pins made of ivory with a top as a dog...
Constantinople 506, in fully Late Antique style Ottonian panel from the MagdeburgIvories, in a bold monumental style with little attempt at classicism; Milan...
975 AD – Bishop Petros with Saint Peter the Apostle c. 968 AD – MagdeburgIvories 800–820 AD – Easby Cross Ruthwell Cross Late 7th Century AD? – Bewcastle...
book-illumination". The treasure binding includes four of the recycled MagdeburgIvories, Ottonian plaques from another object that was probably destroyed...
and burned it down. The king called the feuding parties to his court at Magdeburg, where Eberhard was ordered to pay a fine, and his lieutenants were sentenced...
Global Information
