Physical description
The volute, which issues from the mouth of a dragon, is surmounted by half-length figures of Christ between David and Salomon. It encloses an openwork representation of the Adoration of the Magi with the star above and is decorated with the following inscription, a portion of the Collect for the Epiphany: DEVS.QVI.HODIERNA DIE.VNIGENITVM.TVVR.GENTIBVS.STELLA.DVCE on the front side, and REVELASTI.CONCEDE.PROPITIVS.VT.QVI.IAM.TE.EX.FIDE.COGNO [vimus…] on the back (O god, who on his day by the leading of a star didst manifest thine only-begotten son to the gentiles; mercifully grant that we who know thee by faith, [may be brought to the contemplation of the beauty of thy majesty]). The knop is carved on each face with a writing Evangelist seated beneath a trefoil arch. Four foliate shoots and additional prophets are now missing around the lower part of the volute: three ivory pegs remain.
The stem, divided into four sections that screw together, is painted with dragons, birds, and faded leafy stems.
The cuir bouilli case is decorated with various animals amid leafy scrolls and with the arms of the Aldobrandini family (azur a bend counter-embattled or between six mullets of the same ranged in the orle). The interior is divided into five compartments, a central one for the head of the crosier and four circular ones for the sections of the staff.
Place of Origin
Italy (Venice, made)
Date
about 1370 (made)
Artist/maker
Unknown (production)
Materials and Techniques
Ivory, carved, painted and gilded
Marks and inscriptions
DEVS . QVI . HODIERNA DIE . VNIGENITVM . TVVR GENTIBVS . STELLA . DVCE'
'REVELASTI . CONCEDE . PROPICIVS VT . QVI . IAN TE . EX . FIDE . COGNO'
Dimensions
Height: 187.96 cm Height of staff, Width: 13.97 cm Height of staff
Object history note
The heads of Christ and Solomon and the two foliate shoots are either late-nineteenth-century replacements or were broken before 1880 and subsequently restored.
Four foliate shoots and additional prophets are missing around the lower part of the volute, and three ivory pegs remain.
Formerly Spitzer collection, then Salting collection. Bequeathed to the V&A by Salting.
Historical significance: The coat of arms on the case identifies the crosier as having belonged to Giovanni Benci Carrucci Aldobrandini, bishop of Gubbio (Umbria, central Italy) between 1370 and 1375. Venetian elements such as the half-length figures of Christ and prophets in foliate shoots also feature in other crosiers, such as those in the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence, The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore and in a private collection, New York. The figure style and painting of these crosiers is close to that of the Venetian triptych with the Coronation of the Virgin, datable to 1360-70 (V&A, 143-1866).
Descriptive line
Pastoral staff and case, ivory, Italy (Venice), about 1370
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Cott, P. B. Siculo-Arabic Ivories (Princeton, 1939), pp. 477-78, fig. 15
Gaborit-Chopin, D. Ivoires du moyen âge (Fribourg, 1978), p. 211
Williamson, P. Avori italiani e cuoi francesi, in Pace, V. and Bagnoli, M. (eds.) Il Gotico europeo in Italia (Naples, 1994), p. 293, fig. 2, p. 294
Williamson, P. in Barnet, P. (ed) Images in ivory. Precious objects of the Gothic Age, exh. cat. (Detroit, 1997), p. 215-6, no. 50
'Salting Bequest (A. 70 to A. 1029-1910) / Murray Bequest (A. 1030 to A. 1096-1910)'. In: List of Works of Art Acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum (Department of Architecture and Sculpture). London: Printed under the Authority of his Majesty's Stationery Office, by Eyre and Spottiswoode, Limited, East Harding Street, EC, pp. 89-90
Longhurst, Margaret H. Catalogue of Carvings in Ivory. Part II. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1929, p. 60
Exhibition History
Depth of Field: the Place of Relief in the Time of Donatello (Henry Moore Institute, Leeds 23/09/2004-27/03/2005)
Images in Ivory: Precious Objects of the Gothic Age. (The Walters Art Gallery 22/06/1997-31/08/1997)
Images in Ivory: Precious Objects of the Gothic Age. (Detroit Institute of Arts 09/03/1997-25/05/1997)
Materials
Ivory; Gilt
Techniques
Painting; Gilding
Subjects depicted
Mary (Virgin Mary); Dragon; Jesus
Categories
Sculpture; Christianity; Accessories
Collection code
SCP
