This is an ivory plaque probably made in Alto Adige / Tirol in the late eights to early ninth century and depicts the Baptism and the Ascension of Christ.
During the period 900-1200, ivories were produced all over Europe, often in monasteries and ecclesiastical or royal courts. Ivory carvings appeared on book covers, reliquary caskets, antependia (the panel in front of an altar) and religious icons. The upper half depicts the scene when Christ rode into Jerusalem on an ass. He arrived on the Sunday before Good Friday and was welcomed by the citizens with palm branches. In the lower half St Mary Magdalene is shown anointing Christ’s feet as he sits with his apostles for a meal in the house of Simon.
It has long been recognised that the present plaque is closely related stylistically to a diptych in the Musée de Cluny in Paris and a plaque showing Christ in Majesty with four angels now in the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum in Munich.
The relief was cut down at the top, losing the upper part of the Ascension which would have shown Christ, when the back was carved in the late ninth century. This face then became the reverse of the plaque, and was probably set into a recess on a book-cover. It is consequently abraded and rubbed at its highest points, especially on the faces and on the bodies of the Virgin and St. John the Baptist. The small triangular section of ivory at the bottom left corner of the plaque seems to have been added to create a square corner. This might indicate that the leaf was carved from a Late Antique diptych. The four holes in the corners were presumably made when the reverse of the plaque was put into use on a book-cover.