Triptych
- Place of origin:
- Date:
- Artist/Maker:
Workshop of Embriachi (school of, sculptor)
- Materials and Techniques:
Wood inlaid with marquetry of bone, and covered with bone plaques
- Museum number:
- Gallery location:
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This is a small altar showing in the centre the Crucifixion and the Madonna and Child with Saints. On the left wing is the Annunciation and two saints and on the right, the Agony in the Garden and two saints.
It is made by the School of the Embriachi in North Italy in ca. 1400-1450. The Embriachi workshop was a north Italian family of entrepreneurs and carvers. The precise location of the workshop is unknown, except that it originated in Florence and in ca. 1431. There was apparently a workshop in Venice, in the area of S Luca. They employed local workers specialising in 'certosina' (inlay of stained woods, bone and horn), and the workshop produced items carved in bone (usually horse or ox) with wood and bone marquetry.
As well as altarpieces, the workshop also made caskets as bridal gifts to hold jewels or documents, and these were often decorated with scenes from mythology.
Physical description
This triptych shows in the centre in two compartments, The Crucifixion with the Virgin, St. John the Evangelist, and soldiers; below, the Virgin and Child with St. Bartholomew, St. John the Bapritst, St. Stephen (?) and St. Lawrence (?). On the left wing is the Annunciation with below, St. Paul and St. Anthony Abbot; on the right the Agony in the Garden with, below, St. Mary Magdalene and St. Christopher. Bone plaques in a wooden frame decorated with 'alla certosina' marquetry.
Place of Origin
Italy (North, made)
Date
ca. 1400-1450 (made)
Artist/maker
Workshop of Embriachi (school of, sculptor)
Materials and Techniques
Wood inlaid with marquetry of bone, and covered with bone plaques
Dimensions
Height: 70.5 cm including pedestal and frame, Width: 44 cm including pedestal and frame
Object history note
Bought from the Gigli-Campana Collection, £35 in 1861.
Descriptive line
Triptych, altar, wood inlaid with marquetry of bone, by the school of the Embriachi, North Italy, 15th century
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Inventory of Art Objects Acquired in the Year 1861. In: Inventory of the Objects in the Art Division of the Museum at South Kensington, Arranged According to the Dates of their Acquisition. Vol I. London: Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode for H.M.S.O., 1868, p. 21
Longhurst, Margaret H. Catalogue of Carvings in Ivory. Part II. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1929, p. 64
Exhibition Catalogue: Objects for a Wunderkammer, Colnaghi, London, 1987, cat. 1001, pp. 200-201
Exhibition History
Objects for a Wunderkammer (P. and D. Colnaghi and Co., Ltd 01/01/1987-31/12/1987)
Materials
Wood; Bone
Techniques
Inlay
Subjects depicted
Women; Soldiers; Virgin and Child; John (Saint John the Baptist); Mary Magdalene (Saint); John (Saint John the Evangelist); Altar; St. Paul; Christopher (Saint); Anthony Abbot (Saint); St. Lawrence; Stephen (Saint); St. Bartholomew
Categories
Sculpture; Religion; Christianity
Collection code
SCP
