This is an ivory diptych made in about 1280-1310 in Paris, France. This diptych depicts twelve scenes from the Passion in three tiers separated by bands of rosettes. The scenes begin at the bottom left-hand corner and are treated picturequely rather than dramatically.1. Judas receiving the thirty pieces of silver. 2. The Betrayal. 3. Judas hangs himself. 4. The cutting off of Malchus' ear. 5. Pilate washes his hands. 6. Christ carrying his cross. 7. The Crucifixion. 8. The Deposition. 9. The Entombment. 10. The Maries at the Sepulchre. 11. Christ meeting St. Mary Magdalene in the Garden. 12. The Harrowing of Hell.
The devotional diptych is in many ways the object type most associated with the notion of Gothic ivory carving. The earliest examples probably date to the 1240s; these are complex, large and ambitious works that emerged, somewhat surprisingly, with no obvious precursors. The owners of ivory diptychs sometimes appear within their images. Such portraits indicate that they were special requests on the part of their commissioners, and they parallel the similar figures that appear in manuscripts and panel paintings of the period. The iconography of Gothic diptychs oscillated between two poles. The first of which is the desire to present narratives (Life of Christ and Virgin Mary) for envisaging. The second was the use of non-narrative images to form the focus of devotion.