In 16-17th century France, Chrisitianity was heavily ingrained into the culture, and many works of art were created to illustrate the different figures and stories from the Bible. Before there was established trade with the East, most Biblical recreations looked more similar to how Europeans dressed and had backgrounds that looked similar to Europe. There is evidence in artworks that people have experienced the East because the characters are in realistic clothing and locations in the scenery rather than anglicizing the art. The presence of the East and pieces with Eastern influence show more realistic views of what was happening during the time that Biblical stories took place, but more importantly they are only possible by connecting with the East. In the Catholic University archives there are many objects that can be used as an example of the East and West connection that took place during the Renaissance Period, but in this case we will be examining: the French Ivory Triptych.
The Ivory Triptych was donated to Catholic University in 1927 as a part of the Bishop Connolly collection. Bishop Connolly was dedicated to collecting original manuscripts and artwork throughout his lifetime and bestowed many artworks to Catholic University through the years. However, the Ivory Triptych was most likely collected first by Monsignor Henri Hyvernat, not Bishop Connolly himself. Monsignor Hyvernat was born in 1889 at St. Julien-en-Jerrat, France, and was educated in both France and Italy. Monsignor Hyvernat was ordained in Lyon, France, and was then sent on a mission from the French government through several different countries including Armenia, India, Egypt, and Palestine. During this time, Monsignor Hyvernat developed a deep connection with Semitic cultures, and he went on to be an inaugural faculty member of Catholic University where he taught both Biblical Archaeology and Semitic Languages. In his lifetime Monsignor Hyvernat was also an avid collector of artwork and artifacts that he eventually donated to the Catholic University. Monsignor Hyvernat was a part of the faculty until his death in 1941, and was a highly renowned academic throughout his life.
The creator of the Ivory Triptych is unknown, but being able to trace its origins to Renaissance France assists in envisioning the intended purpose of the triptych. The Ivory Triptych does not change in interest depending on the artist, instead it is interesting because it is possibly one of the largest pieces that exist made of ivory. Ivory is an expensive and rare material today, and the use of such a large quantity makes this piece stand out. In the object file in the Catholic University Archives, there is no record of who had possession of this object before it came into Monsignor Hyvernat’s possession which leads to confusion about where exactly it has traveled between its creation in 1689 and its donation in 1927. Despite the lack of information that is available of where this piece had been before Monsignor Hyvernat, it can be assumed that there has been connections with other cultures and types of Christianity. Connection the East opened a channel for the West to understand more clearly what was happening in the time of Jesus and started a trend of more realistic devotional artworks.
These movements hold importance for the provenance history of the object because it shows how connections have been made to change how pieces are produced. Beginning with the original creator, the East is represented in the backgrounds of the Biblical scenes on the side panels and with the clothing that the different figures have on. These things do not show the norms of the West, rather they show how people in the Holy Land would have dressed and what they would have seen in their everyday life. When Monsignor Hyvernat collected the Ivory Triptych, he was interested in the history of Christianity and in the East, but he was from France. Monsignor Hyvernat brought all of these traits which was in a sense all of the traits that were connected to the Ivory Triptych, and allowed for it to continue in its path to Catholic University. Once the Ivory Triptych had come into Monsignor Hyvernat’s possession, it journeyed to the United States and was entered into the Bishop Connolly collection. The Ivory Triptych is an example of the interconnectedness that is centered around Christianity because the events took place in the East, and remains culturally relevant in the West.
The Ivory Triptych has several different elements in its sections that show the way in which Western nations, like France were able to borrow elements from the East in different ways. There are also some things that are present in the different illustrations of the French Ivory Triptych that demonstrate a knowledge of the environment in the Holy Land, and produce an accurate depiction of it. Examples of the correct environment and clothing include the Left Panel’s use of desert and palm trees to depict the Flight to Egypt. These elements have been able to produce a definition of what a cosmopolitan renaissance is. Because of this, a renaissance can be thought of as a change in norms and ideology within a global culture. In Art 272 The Cosmopolitan Renaissance, the class readings have shown that as people started to connect with the East there was a reflection of that in the artworks produced throughout European countries.
In Figure 4, there is a similar style of triptych to the French Ivory Triptych which is housed in the Vatican, and depicts Jesus in Déesis surrounded by his mother Mary and St. John the Baptist with the Apostles below him. This triptych was created in the Workshop of Constantinople and has decorative elements that are reminiscent of its Eastern creation. Déesis is Christ in the act of Blessing with a book in his hand. This triptych was not created in the Renaissance, it is likely from the 10th or 11th century, but is very clearly similar to the French Ivory Triptych in its ordering and what figures are most prominent in the center panel. The French Ivory Triptych’s connection to the East and West can be most clearly seen through the connection that the figures in the center panel have to both the Eastern and Western Christian Churches. The center panel depicts Jesus on the cross with his mother Mary directly below him. Beside Mary there are four figures of Saints that have a connection to both the Eastern and Western Rites: St. John the Baptist, St. Margaret of Antioch, St. John the Divine, and most likely Mary Magdalene.
St. John the Baptist is one of the most important figures in both the Eastern and Western Rites. The Eastern Rite venerates St. John the Baptist higher than all the other saints excluding Mary because he was sent to prepare the people for the coming of Jesus Christ, and is the last of the prophets. In the Roman Catholic Church, John the Baptist has a similar role because he was the person who Baptized Jesus and he preached to people to prepare them for Jesus’ ministry. St. Margaret of Antioch in the Eastern Church is known as St. Marina the Great Martyr, and the ruins of Antioch are located in modern day Turkey. Both the Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox Catholic Church revere her as one of St. Joan of Arc’s Fourteen Helpers and for her great commitment to her faith through her martyrdom. St. John the Divine is important in the Eastern and Western Rites because he is an Apostle and authored his own Gospel. In the Western Rite, St. John is also the subject of the book of Revelation which recounts his exile on Patmos where he receives a vision of the end of time when Jesus comes back to earth. In the Eastern Rite it is also important to note that St. John was the youngest of the Apostles and was loved especially by Christ because of his Sacrificial love for him. The final figure is most likely of Mary Magdalene who is venerated because she was one of very few women with a close relationship to Jesus, and was the first to see the Resurrected Christ, which is how she is viewed in both Rites of Catholicism.
In Europe during the Renaissance, Christianity was deeply connected with the culture and it was incredibly common for artists to be commissioned for devotional art pieces. In the two side panels of the Ivory Triptych there are eight total stories represented, and each of them would be easily recognizable to the casual viewer, which gave the artist a large ability to use popular stories to integrate Eastern influences into French art. In the center panel the Bishop’s crest is also apparent which could indicate that this was made as a gift for a Bishop or to put into a larger church like a Basilica or Cathedral. This Bishop’s crest also could indicate that the commissioner of the piece intended for it to be in public display, and did not want for the object to be for private use. Global connection is one of the most obvious things that can be achieved through art, and in the Renaissance the use of Christianity was one of the best ways to connect with different places and cultures. Once trade had been established with the East it became easy to incorporate different surroundings and types of dress, especially in religious artworks.
By Lauren Davidson