Diptych with the Adoration of the Magi and the Vera Icon (True Image)

This small diptych is composed of two rectangular ivory panels joined with a metal hinge, allowing it to close like a book. The backs of the panels are smooth and slightly rounded on the edges, revealing the vertical orientation of the ivory grain, and a pair of holes on the outer vertical edges of the panels once anchored a tongue-and-eye closure. The interior faces of the panels are carved with figural imagery under a canopy composed of three cusped gothic arches and crocketed gables.

The left panel displays the Adoration of the Magi. The eldest Magus has removed his crown and kneels before the seated Mary and her infant son, who stands on his mother’s lap as he receives the gift. The two other Magi, one bearded and one clean shaven, stand behind with their gifts in hand. The bearded king points to the star which guided them to Bethlehem while the other raises his hand in a gesture of amazement. The right panel includes three different devotional images. At center, an angel supports a frontal bearded face with a cruciform halo, a representation of an image called the Vera Icon, Veronica, or "True Image." This miraculous object was created by the imprint of the face of Jesus that was left on a cloth he used to wipe his face as he carried the cross to Golgotha. The Vera Icon is flanked by images of two saints. On the left is Saint Christopher, who bears the child Jesus with a cruciform halo on his back. To the right is an unidentified ecclesiastic saint, , who is dressed in episcopal regalia and raises his hand in blessing.

The carving is relatively rough. No traces of paint are visible to the unaided eye, and the off-white ivory surface the surface shows significant abrasions, pitting, and flecks of brown. There are no areas of loss to the carving, however. The exteriors of the panels preserve one collection sticker and the trace of another.

Further Reading:

Harvey Stahl, "Narrative Structure and Content in Some Gothic Ivories of the Life of Christ," in Images in Ivory: Precious Objects of the Gothic Age, ed. Peter Barnet (Detroit: The Detroit Institute of Arts, 1997): pp. 94-114.

Nina Rowe, "Pocket Crucifixions: Jesus, Jews, and Ownership in Fourteenth-Century Ivories," Studies in Iconography 32 (2011): pp. 81-120.

Sarah M. Guérin, "Meaningful Spectacles: Gothic Ivories Staging the Divine," The Art Bulletin 95, (March 2013): pp. 53-77.

Paul Williamson and Glynn Davies, Medieval Ivory Carvings, 1200-1550, Part 1 (London: V&A Publishing, 2014): pp. 210-211.

Sarah M. Guérin, "Introduction to Gothic Ivories," in Gothic Ivories: Calouste Gulbenkian Collection (London: Scala Arts & Heritage Publishers, Ltd., 2015): pp. 36-57.


Catalogue Entry by Scott Miller, Andrew W. Mellon Curatorial and Research Collections Specialist, Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters, 2020–2022

Cav. Aldo Noseda ; [ Galleria Sangiorgi, Rome (sold 1911)]; J. Pierpont Morgan (American), London and New York (1911–1913)