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Ivory Triptych

To understand the Renaissance and its global connections, it is easiest to look at a specific object from the period and its cultural influences. Although many would agree that the Renaissance was an Italian period, it must be acknowledged that the Renaissance is not purely Italian. It encompasses cultural influences from across the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, Africa, and the East, which must be researched to understand the full scope of the Renaissance and the early modern period. It is evident that a true cosmopolitan Renaissance involves a combination of different materials, styles, and images from various cultures and artistic traditions. This object, the Ivory Triptych (Fig. 1), found in the Catholic University Special Collections, serves as a visual representation of important elements of this global Renaissance.

The Ivory Triptych is a large 42 ¾ in. by 33 ⅝ in. triptych depicting various Gospel scenes. The Special Collection notes indicate that it is most likely one of the largest ivory triptychs known today. It is made of wooden panels covered with carved ivory elements displaying scenes of Christ, Mary, and various saints. Two small side panels fasten in the front main portion of the triptych, fastened by two locking devices to keep the panels shut when necessary. Metal pieces are attached on the back wood panels, meant to help attach the piece to a wall for as a hanging decoration. In its current state, the Ivory Triptych is not in great condition: the carved relief panels are retracting from their wooden frame, pieces have large cracks running the length of the piece, and some of the statues of the holy figures are falling off of their bases (Fig 2).

The exact date of creation is unknown, but the Ivory Triptych has been identified as French and dates to around the sixteenth century. The donor, Rev. Arthur T. Connolly, one of the most prominent benefactors represented in Special Collections, gifted the ivory triptych to the museum collection at Catholic University on May 5, 1917. Rev. Connolly was an avid traveler across Europe, South America, and Central America, where he amassed a large collection of art objects and manuscripts, many of which were donated to the Catholic University museum. Part of this donation was the Ivory Triptych, which was consolidated among Reverend Connolly’s other donations into a collection of ivories. Reverend Connolly’s ivories remained a part of the Catholic University museum until after 1933 when the museum collection was downsized and consolidated.

The original museum remarks include a description of the figural scenes and specific symbolic representations of the Ivory Triptych. It also contains a small reference to the triptych’s original placement (before being collected) as part of the back of a church altar, but it is unknown as to which particular church or a specific location within France. It was meant to be viewed most often in its open state because all of the elaborate and skillful decoration, including all of the ivory elements, are only visible when it is fully open. It was last valued at around $10,000 in 1997 due to the significant usage of ivory and its decent condition, which had since deteriorated. It has sustained damage seen in the breaks in the wood paneling and cracks in the ivory reliefs.

Although the Ivory Triptych originally served its function within a faith-based context of worship as a church altarpiece, after being donated to the Catholic University museum collection, it began to function as an object of curiosity. Anyone who viewed the collection of ivories in the McMahon Hall museum would see the Ivory Triptych presented as part of a collection of curiosities, accumulated from far, unreachable destinations of a distant past. Since 2001, the Ivory Triptych has been loaned out to several Catholic University faculty members and has been placed in offices, where it continues to be used as a decorative object. It is recreationally viewed rather than worshiped as it was originally intended to be. It has not often been investigated or researched academically. Through its use as a decorative object, not enough research has been done to discover the original date or location of the creation of the Ivory Triptych. In this way, the Ivory Triptych lost its function as a large, faith-inspiring piece of religious art, meant to glorify God. Removing a fine art object like this from its original context makes it difficult to research who made it and for what specific purpose. Attempting to understand its original role and placement is important to know its true context and purpose within its specific historical setting.

Understanding the materials of the object is the first step to recontextualizing this triptych. In the sixteenth century, ivory only came from elephant tusks of Africa, and the chain of supply of ivory was not always reliable. Ivory was particularly rare, especially within France during the Gothic period, making it highly desirable for religious art in participation with a strong faith tradition. During the Renaissance period, as shipping developed with an increasing desire for exotic materials like ivory, a strong trade network connecting Africa, European nations, and the East was necessary for materials to spread. Trade networks strengthened across Europe and beyond, connecting nations that previously had no interactions with each other, allowing for a developed global Renaissance. Along with the physical movement of materials like ivory, stylistic ideas spread along trade routes and deepened the cosmopolitan connection between these nations. Without this secure trading relationship between nations, it would be impossible for the French Gothic artistic tradition to flourish and pieces like the Ivory Triptych would have never been created.

Due to the shipping challenges, ivory was expensive and was valued as a display of class and wealth. Due to its exotic quality, ivory would have been an important material in religious art, used to demonstrate one's devotion and status to the church and to God. The Church was a source of power and wealth at the time, and they controlled most of the ivory objects because they could purchase them. Along with Italy, the center of the Renaissance, France followed Christianity, and elite members of society used art objects like small diptychs and triptychs in their homes for private worship, using their wealth to praise God. Larger pieces could be on display for guests in the home, but the largest ivories like the Ivory Triptych would be commissioned by the wealthy for various churches.

Commissions were a vital aspect of Renaissance-era art as a way for artists to sell their work and for patrons to demonstrate their class. Contracts describing the stipulations of the agreement between the client and the artist were necessary for Italian art, and this process would have been similar to the French commissioning system as well. Under this system, only the most wealthy could control the subjects and styles of the art of the time, which is why religious themes are so prominent in this triptych. Art was selected by the wealthy and displayed for the public, and in an open setting like a church, the Ivory Triptych would be displayed on the altar for anyone to view. Even though these subjects and settings were controlled by the elite, the poor would recognize the extravagance of material within its setting. The imagery and symbols would assist in highlighting and visualizing the Gospel stories from religious services for a mass audience that was not completely literate. Although the exact artist of the Ivory Triptych is unknown, it is plausible that this contractual commission system would have been used between the artist and the church client. More research can be done to place a more specific location within France, a connection to a specific church, or a possible artist.

Other French ivory objects from the same gothic period include plaques, diptychs, triptychs, and polyptychs. The quantity of ivories is relatively limited because ivory was so exotic and rare, and none of these match the Ivory Triptych in its size. Almost all of these known ivories contain religious scenes, most often scenes from Christ’s life or Marian imagery. These small religious ivories served as private devotional objects. For example, this Diptych with Scenes of the Life of Christ and the Virgin, Saint Michael, John the Baptist, Thomas Becket, and the Trinity from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, ca. 1350 (Fig. 3), displays scenes from the life of Christ and various saints. Scenes of the Annunciation, Nativity, Adoration of the Magi, Presentation in the Temple, and the Resurrection are all present in the small 10 in. by 8 ⅚ in. diptych. The act of opening the panels of this diptych reflects a turning toward the act of prayer as a way of entering into a holy space with God. Contemplation of the scenes, specifically scenes of the life of Christ connects the worshipper in a more intimate way to acting as Christ did. The Ivory Triptych functions similarly: opening the two panels to reveal the larger interior piece would have fostered a sacred atmosphere where onlookers could participate in the Gospel scenes.

The side panels of the Ivory Triptych also portray specific scenes in the life of Christ. The scenes of the Adoration of the Magi and the Flight into Egypt are located in the top of the left panel (Fig. 4). The bottom of the left panel features scenes of Christ’s Baptism and the Agony in the Garden (Fig 5). The top of the right panel portrays the Betrayal of Christ and the Carrying of the Cross (Fig. 6). In the bottom right, the Entombment and Resurrection of Christ are portrayed (Fig 7). All of the side panels are divided into these four sections, with a column or jardiniere (floral planter) diving the section into two halves, each with a different biblical story. The center of the triptych is Christ crucified with Mary directly below the cross on a pedestal. On her left are St. John the Baptist and St. Margaret of Antioch, and St. John the Divine and Mary Magdalene are on her right. Above the carved figures are ivory stars and bishops’ coats of arms (Fig. 8). All of this figural imagery is Christian in its Biblical scenes. Symbols like the dove the cloud in Christ’s Baptism and the stable and manger setting in the Adoration scene (both Fig. 4) overtly point to the specific scenes they are a part of. These symbols would have been commonly used and easily recognizable to any viewer, regardless of literacy and social class.

Some of the symbolism within the scenes points directly to a “foreign” Eastern influence. During the time of the Renaissance and beyond, devout Christians aimed to connect their Western nations with a distant East and a far-off past. To portray a distant land synonymous with Christ and his life, the artist used symbols associated with the assumed setting of the stories. In the Flight to Egypt scene (Fig. 4) the setting is rocky and unfamiliar. As the Holy Family move across the scene, they approach a distant setting with large palm trees in a rocky, sandy desert. These symbols portray a warm climate that the viewer would assume to be Egypt, allowing them to know the specific Bible story they were experiencing.

The ornamentation on the wood and the ivory elements framing the scenes also shows a distinctly Eastern influence. On the side panels above each scene, geometric shapes in curves and points are imposed above the elements of the scene. These elements are purely decorative, and they reflect the common use of Islamic patterns across Western culture during the Renaissance and beyond. In Islamic culture, where figural imagery and depiction in a religious context were forbidden, ornamentation and calligraphic imagery took precedence in art. This ornamental style, which reflected the sacredness of God, was originally interpreted as a simple decoration in the West. Eventually, Westerners were able to partially understand the necessary concept of ornamentation for the sake of worship through their belief in its connection to the “East” where Christ lived and died. Fascination with these unique styles of decoration took hold in Italy and beyond, even taking influence as far as France.

By the time of the sixteenth century, this Islamic decorative quality combined with the French architectural tradition, showing its roots in the French Gothic style, which can be seen in the architectural elements in the central panel of the Ivory Triptych. The detailed ornate style of the pinnacles and spires surrounding Christ (seen in Fig. 8) can reflect an origin in the Islamic tradition of decoration and geometric elements. To praise God and demonstrate His majesty, architects used these intricate embellishments in the non-figural design, drawing on similar concepts and styles from the Islamic tradition. This geometric design proved to have universal value to both Western and Eastern cultures, seen in its presence in this French triptych, bringing into context a global early modern period. This universality brings France into relation with a Renaissance that it originally appeared to be very distant from.

Along with many of the other art objects in the Catholic University collection, the Ivory Triptych points to a universality of Renaissance influence that stretched beyond Italy. Its form, function, and content, and help contextualize the various cultural influences of the global early modern period. Research on art objects of this period is necessary to achieve this universal understanding of art.


by Katie Coyle


Bibliography

Baxandall, Michael. “Conditions of Trade,” Painting and Experience. pp. 1-27.

Belting, Hans. “Perspective as a Question of Images’ Paths between East and West,” Florence

and Baghdad, 2011. pp. 13-25; 42-54.

Brotton, Jerry and Jardine, Lisa. “Exchanging Identity: Breaching the Boundaries of Renaissance

Europe,” Global Interests: Renaissance Art between East and West, Reaktion, 2000. pp.

11-62.

Chapuis, Julien. “Gothic Art,” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The

Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2002.

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/mgot/hd_mgot.htm

“Diptych with Scenes of the Life of Christ and the Virgin, Saint Michael, John the Baptist,

Thomas Becket, and the Trinity,” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2022.

Guérin, Sarah M. “Ivory Carving in the Gothic Era, Thirteenth–Fifteenth Centuries,” In

Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2010.

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/goiv/hd_goiv.htm

“History of the University Museum Collection: Rev. Arthur T. Connolly,” University Libraries,

Washington DC: The Catholic University of America.

ml

“Ivory Triptych,” ACUA Museum Collections: New Museum Collection, Washington DC, June

1995.

“Remarks, No. Museum 1292,” Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America, October

17, 1927.


Image Library

Fig. 1, Ivory Triptych










Fig 2, Damage in the bottom right panel













Fig. 3, Diptych with Scenes of the Life of Christ and the Virgin, Saint Michael, John the Baptist,

Thomas Becket, and the Trinity














Fig. 4, Adoration of Magi and Flight into Egypt














Fig. 5, Baptism of Christ and the Agony in the Garden













Fig. 6, Betrayal of Christ and Carrying of the Cross














Fig. 7, Entombment and Resurrection of Christ












Fig. 8, Christ with Mary and Saints



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