Intended for the private contemplation and devotion of its owner, this palm-size ivory diptych illustrates both the reward of salvation and the consequence of damnation. The left wing represents the Coronation of the Virgin. At the bottom a retinue of the saved souls, including a mendicant friar, a king, a pope, and possibly a deacon, is ushered up a ladder to the celestial paradise by an angel who points the way. In the right wing Christ, accompanied by angels carrying instruments of the Passion, displays the wounds of his Crucifixion. As the dead are called from their graves, the kneeling Virgin Mary and Saint John the Baptist serve as their intercessors in the Last Judgment. The damned appear in the lower right, pushed headfirst into the mouth of Hell at the order of two grotesque devils. Adapted from representations in contemporary architectural sculpture, these subjects are set within a series of trefoil-cusped arcades and are elegantly carved in exceptionally high relief. The supple carving enlivens the symmetrical representation of the drama of redemption and condemnation.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Diptych with the Coronation of the Virgin and the Last Judgment
Date:ca. 1260–70
Geography:Made in probably Paris, France
Culture:French
Medium:Elephant ivory, with metal mounts
Dimensions:Overall (opened): 5 x 5 1/8 x 3/4 in. (12.7 x 13 x 1.9 cm)
Classification:Ivories-Elephant
Credit Line:The Cloisters Collection, 1970
Accession Number:1970.324.7a, b
Ernst and Marthe Kofler-Truniger, Lucerne (sold 1970)
Museum Schnütgen. "Grosse Kunst des Mittelalters aus Privatbesitz," April 23–June 6, 1960.
Kunsthaus Zürich. "Sammlung E. und M. Kofler-Truniger, Luzern, Zürich," June 7–August 2, 1964.
Kunsthalle Köln. "Weltkunst au Privatbesitz," May 18–August 4, 1968.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Patterns of Collecting: Selected Acquisitions, 1965–1975," December 6, 1975–March 23, 1976.
Rijksmuseum. "The Art of Devotion in the Late Middle Ages in Europe 1300-1500," November 26, 1994–February 26, 1995.
Detroit Institute of Arts. "Images in Ivory: Precious Objects of the Gothic Age," March 9–May 11, 1997.
Walters Art Museum. "Images in Ivory: Precious Objects of the Gothic Age," June 22–August 31, 1997.
Schnitzler, Hermann, ed. Große Kunst des Mittelalters aus Privatbesitz. Cologne: Museum Schnütgen, 1960. no. 23, pp. 20–21, pl. 16.
Sammlung E. und M. Kofler-Truniger, Luzern: Ausstellung. Zurich: Kunsthaus Zürich, 1964. no. 720, p. 77, pl. 67.
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Bloch, Peter, Hermann Schnitzler, Charles Ratton, and W. F. Volbach. "Mittelalterliche Kunst der Sammlung Kofler-Truniger, Luzern." Aachener Kunstblätter 31 (1965). p. 20.
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Wixom, William D. "Medieval Sculpture at The Cloisters." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., 46, no. 3 (Winter 1988-1989). p. 60.
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Howard, Kathleen, ed. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. 2nd ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1994. no. 15, p. 400.
van Os, Henk. The Art of Devotion in the Late Middle Ages in Europe, 1300-1500. Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum, 1994. no. 6, pp. 25–26, 176.
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van Os, Henk. Een engel in de koffer: Willem Neutelings en zijn verzameling. Maastricht: Bonnefanten Museum, 1996. p. 26, fig. 31.
Barnet, Peter, ed. Images In Ivory: Precious Objects of the Gothic Age. Detroit: Detroit Institute of Arts, 1997. no. 9, pp. 130–31.
Rawlings, Irene. "Private Lives: Gothic ivories reveal the faith and romantic fancies of medieval Europeans." Art & Antiques 20, no. 3 (March 1997). pp. 114–15.
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