An outstanding example of Gothic goldsmiths' work and enameling, this small devotional diptych achieves a gemlike quality through its accomplished technique and graceful style. The outer scenes of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection are executed in translucent enamel with details in opaque enamel, while the inner scenes of the Annunciation and the Nativity are in the form of cast reliefs. The diptych generally has been attributed to either a Parisian or a Cologne workshop, but a more precise localization is made difficult not only by the mobility of artists and the resultant transmission of styles, but also by the palpable stylistic differences between the outer and inner wings. In addition, the unusual inclusion of a midwife in the Nativity scene is an iconographic peculiarity that appears for the most part to have been of Austrian origin. While the place in which this diptych originated remains somewhat uncertain, the essential stylistic qualities of the work link it with Cologne.
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Wings, exterior: the Crucifixion, the Resurrection
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Wings, exterior: the Crucifixion, the Resurrection
Wings, interior: the Annunciation, the Nativity
Artwork Details
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Title:Diptych with Scenes of the Annunciation, Nativity, Crucifixion, and Resurrection
Date:1300–1325
Geography:Made in probably Cologne, Germany
Culture:German
Medium:Silver gilt with translucent and opaque enamels
Dimensions:Overall (opened): 2 3/8 x 3 3/8 x 5/16 in. (6.1 x 8.6 x 0.8 cm) Overall (Closed): 2 3/8 x 1 3/4 x 1/2 in. (6.1 x 4.5 x 1.2 cm)
Classification:Enamels-Translucent
Credit Line:Gift of Ruth Blumka, 1980
Accession Number:1980.366
John Edward Taylor, London (until 1912) ; [his sale, Christie's, London (July 1-4, 1912, no. 235)] ; [ Jacques Seligmann, Paris and New York (in 1912)] ; [ Ruth and Leopold Blumka, New York (until 1980)]
Burlington Fine Arts Club. "Exhibition of a Collection of European enamels from the earliest date to the end of the XVII. century," 1897.
Cleveland Museum of Art. "Treasures from Medieval France," Novemer 16, 1966–January 29, 1967.
New York. The Cloisters, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Medieval Art from Private Collections," October 30, 1968–March 30, 1969.
State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts. "Dekorativno-Prikladnoe Iskusstvo ot Pozdnei Antichnosti do Pozdnei Gotiki," June–December 1989.
State Hermitage Museum, Leningrad. "Dekorativno-Prikladnoe Iskusstvo ot Pozdnei Antichnosti do Pozdnei Gotiki," February–July 1990.
McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College. "Memory and The Middle Ages," February 17–May 21, 1995.
Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum. "Heinrich der Lowe und seine Zeit. Herrschaft and Reprasentation der Welfen 1125-1235," August 6–November 12, 1995.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Glory of Byzantium," March 11–July 6, 1997.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Mirror of the Medieval World," March 9–June 1, 1999.
Catalogue of the renowned collection of works of art, chiefly of the mediaeval and Renaissance times, Greek and Roman antiquities, French 18th century furniture and old Chinese porcelain, formed by the late John Edward Taylor. London: Christie, Manson & Woods, July 1–9, 1912. no. 235, p. 67, ill.
Wixom, William D. Treasures from Medieval France. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1967. no. V–12, pp. 192–93, 367–68.
Gómez-Moreno, Carmen. Medieval Art from Private Collections: A Special Exhibition at The Cloisters, October 30, 1968 through January 5, 1969. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1968. no. 166.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. Notable Acquisitions, 1980-1981 (Metropolitan Museum of Art) (1981). pp. 26–27.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. "One Hundred Eleventh Annual Report of the Trustees for the Fiscal Year July 1, 1980, through June 30, 1981." Annual Report of the Trustees of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 111 (1981). p. 42.
Swarzenski, Hanns, and Nancy Netzer. Enamels & Glass: Catalogue of Medieval Objects. Catalogue of Medieval Objects in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1986. pp. 112–13.
Shepard, Mary B. Europe in the Middle Ages, edited by Charles T. Little, and Timothy B. Husband. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1987. p. 102, pl. 94.
Pushkin Museum and State Hermitage Museum. Dekorativno-Prikladnoe Iskusstvo ot Pozdnei Antichnosti do Pozdnei Gotiki: Kratkii Katalog Vystavki. Moscow: Pushkin Museum, 1990. no. 51, pp. 12, 34, fig. 51.
State Hermitage Museum. Dekorativno-Prikladnoe Iskusstvo ot Pozdnei Antichnosti do Pozdnei Gotiki. St. Petersburg: State Hermitage Museum, 1990. no. 51, pp. 108–109.
Wixom, William D., ed. Mirror of the Medieval World. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1999. no. 154, pp. 131–32.
Boehm, Barbara Drake, Abigail Quandt, and William D. Wixom. Das Stundenbuch der Jeanne d'Evreux / The Hours of Jeanne d'Evreux / Le Livre d'Heures de Jeanne d'Evreux: Commentary. Lucerne: Faksimile Verlage Luzern, 2000. p. 233, fig. 38–39.
Russakoff, Anna D. "Collaborative Illumination: Jean Pucelle and the Visual Program of Gautier de Coinci's 'Les Miracles de Nostre Dame'." In Jean Pucelle: Innovation and Collaboration in Manuscript Painting, edited by Kyunghee Pyun, and Anna D. Russakoff. London: Harvey Miller Publishers, 2013. p. 85.
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