Physical description
Four ivory bookcovers depicting the four Evangelists. Each is shown seated writing at a lectern, flanked on either side by a pinnacled round tower, with two windows at the top and an open door at the bottom. Above each Evangelist is his respective emblem emerging from the clouds: Matthew has an angel, Mark a lion, Luke an ox and John an eagle. Below is a ground of leaf ornament. There are traces of paint and gilding which may be of a later date.
Place of Origin
Germany (Lower Rhine, made)
Date
second half of 11th century (made)
Artist/maker
Unknown (production)
Materials and Techniques
Ivory
Dimensions
Weight: 0.08 kg each panel, Depth: 1.7 cm each panel, Height: 9 cm, Width: 5.5 cm
[Plaque] Height: 9.4 cm at right, Height: 9.3 cm at left, Width: 5.8 cm
[Plaque] Height: 9.3 cm, Width: 5.6 cm at top, Width: 5.8 cm at bottom
[Plaque] Height: 9.3 cm, Width: 5.7 cm at top, Width: 5.8 cm at bottom
[Plaque] Height: 9.2 cm, Width: 5.8 cm at top, Width: 5.7 cm at bottom
Object history note
From the Webb collection, purchased by the Museum for £70 in 1865.
Historical context note
Similar reliefs were frequently used to decorate covers of manuscripts of the Gospels, either placed in the corners or, in the form of a cross, about a central plaque. Very similar examples exist with the same disposition of the basic elements, and a set in the Walters art gallery, Baltimore, is still attached to a silver and filigree bookcover on a copy of the Gospels dating from 1062. (see Medieval Ivories in the Walter's Art Gallery - Baltimore 1969, no.5)
Williamson notes that the head of St Matthew's angel is a type seen on an eleventh-century portable altar in Melk. This is one of a group of related portable altars, and it may be dated by an inscription on it to the second half of the eleventh-century, which seems to be the most likely date for these Evangelist plaques.
Descriptive line
Plaques, four pieces carved in walrus ivory, from a book cover depicting the four Evangelists, Germany (Lower Rhine), second half of 11th century
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Williamson, P. The Medieval Treasury (V&A Publications, 1986), p.100-101
Walters Art Gallery, P. Medieval Ivories in the Walters Art Gallery (Baltimore, 1969), cat. no. 5
Four similar reliefs in place on a book cover.
Inventory of Art Objects acquired in the Year 1865. Inventory of the Objects in the Art Division of the Museum at South Kensington, arranged According to the Dates of their Acquisition. Vol. 1. London : Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode for H.M.S.O., 1868, p. 33
cf. Medieval Ivories in the Walters Art Gallery. Baltimore: Wlaters Art Gallery, 1969, p.2
Williamson, Paul. Medieval Ivory Carvings. Early Christian to Romanesque. London, V&A Publishing, Victoria and Albert Museum, 2010, pp. 268, 9, cat. no. 70
Exhibition History
Canossa (Diözesanmuseum, Paderborn 21/07/2006-05/11/2006)
Materials
Walrus tusk ivory
Techniques
Carving
Subjects depicted
Lion; Ornament; Clouds; Angel; Eagle; John (Saint John the Evangelist); Ox; Tower; Luke (Saint); Saint Peter; Mark (Saint); Lectern
Categories
Sculpture; Religion; Christianity; Plaques & Plaquettes
Collection code
SCP
