The Holy Trinity thumbnail 1
The Holy Trinity thumbnail 2
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Sculpture, Room 111, The Gilbert Bayes Gallery

The Holy Trinity

Pax
ca. 1350-1400 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This is an elephant ivory pax of the Holy Trinity, made in France (Paris) or possibly England in the second half of the fourteenth century. It depicts the Holy Trinity and the relief is worn smooth, presumably by kissing, in the area of Christ's head.

A pax is a tablet or board, sometimes of silver, usually decorated with a Christian religious representation. A pax was used at the end of mass as part of the ‘Kiss of Peace’ ritual after the Angus Dei. First the priest would kiss the tablet, then the members of the congregation. England was precocious in introducing the pax, but references abound elsewhere from the beginning of the fourteenth century onwards. Paxes could be made from many materials, including wood, copper, silver and gold, as well as ivory.
The earliest, fourteenth-century, examples are invariably decorated with the Crucifixion, but the imagery rapidly diversified to take in other scenes connected with the Christ’s Passion and Sacrifice. By the fifteenth century the choice had expanded, with many scenes of the Virgin and Child.




Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleThe Holy Trinity (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Carved elephant ivory
Brief description
Pax, plaque, elephant ivory, of the Holy Trinity, France (Paris) or possibly English, second half of the fourteenth century
Physical description
Within a border studded with rosettes against a diaper background, God the Father with cruciform nimbus is seated on a wide throne with blind arcading, its ends issuing in foliate volutes; the dove of the Holy Spirit emanates from God's mouth, its beak touching the head of the crucified Christ; the ends of the Cross, now broken, are held by God; sol and luna, normal accompaniments tothe Crucifixion, are shown in the top corners. The head of Christ on the Cross has been worn smooth by the kisses of the faithful. The background is covered with diaper ornament. The grooved border is decorated with rosettes.
Dimensions
  • Height: 10.3cm
  • At top width: 7.8cm
  • At base width: 8.1cm
Object history
Bought in 1867. Recorded in the Museum register is that the Pax was bought from Mr. Wilson in 1867 (for £2 10s); this must have been Samuel Wilson, a 'curiosity dealer' trading from the Strand in London.
Subjects depicted
Literary reference'I saw the spirit coming down from heaven like a dove and settling upon him' (John, 1:32)
Summary
This is an elephant ivory pax of the Holy Trinity, made in France (Paris) or possibly England in the second half of the fourteenth century. It depicts the Holy Trinity and the relief is worn smooth, presumably by kissing, in the area of Christ's head.

A pax is a tablet or board, sometimes of silver, usually decorated with a Christian religious representation. A pax was used at the end of mass as part of the ‘Kiss of Peace’ ritual after the Angus Dei. First the priest would kiss the tablet, then the members of the congregation. England was precocious in introducing the pax, but references abound elsewhere from the beginning of the fourteenth century onwards. Paxes could be made from many materials, including wood, copper, silver and gold, as well as ivory.
The earliest, fourteenth-century, examples are invariably decorated with the Crucifixion, but the imagery rapidly diversified to take in other scenes connected with the Christ’s Passion and Sacrifice. By the fifteenth century the choice had expanded, with many scenes of the Virgin and Child.


Associated object
Bibliographic references
  • [PhD Dissertation] Porter, D. A. Ivory Carving in Later Medieval England 1200-1400. State University of New York, 1974, cat. no., 40
  • Longhurst, Margaret H. Catalogue of Carvings in Ivory. London: Published under the Authority of the Board of Education, 1927-1929, Part II, p. 7
  • Alexander, Jonathan and Binski, Paul eds. Age of Chivalry: art in Plantagenet England, 1200-1400. London: Royal Academy of Arts: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1987, p. 479
  • Inventory of Art Objects Acquired in the Year 1867. 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. 8
  • Maskell, W., A Description of the Ivories Ancient and Medieval in the South Kensington Museum, London, 1872 pp. 75-76
  • Koechlin, R., Les Ivoires gothiques français, 3 vols, Paris, 1924 (reprinted Paris 1968) I, pp. 226, 330, II, cat. no. 508 bis, II, pl. XCI
  • Richter, T., Paxtafeln und Pacificalia. Studien zu Form, Ikonographie und liturgischem Gebrauch, Weimar, 2003, p. 209
  • Randall Jr., Richard H. The Golden Age of Ivory. Gothic Carvings in North American Collections, New York, 1993 p. 71
  • Williamson, Paul and Davies, Glyn, Medieval Ivory Carvings, 1200-1550, (in 2 parts), V&A Publishing, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2014 part 1, pp. 394-395
  • Williamson, Paul and Davies, Glyn, Medieval Ivory Carvings, 1200-1550, (in 2 parts), V&A Publishing, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2014, part 1, pp. 394-395, cat. no. 137
Collection
Accession number
34-1867

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Record createdDecember 22, 2003
Record URL
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