The altarpiece depicts episodes from the life of Christ (central section), of Saint John the Baptist (left), and of Saint John the Evangelist (right). The appearance of Franciscan friars in the Crucifixion scene suggests that the altarpiece was originally commissioned for a Franciscan community. The Embriachi family, which ran successful workshops in Venice and Florence, produced numerous carvings in bone, ivory, and other materials.
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Open Access
As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.
API
Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.
This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.
Left section: Scenes from the Life of Saint John the Baptist
Artwork Details
Use your arrow keys to navigate the tabs below, and your tab key to choose an item
Title:Altarpiece
Artist:Baldassare degli Embriachi (Italian, active 1390–1409)
Date:ca. 1390–1400
Culture:North Italian
Medium:Bone framed with intarsia and horn, traces of paint and gilding
Dimensions:without wooden base: 50 1/2 x 60 1/2 in. (128.3 x 153.7 cm)
Classification:Bone
Credit Line:Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
Accession Number:17.190.489
Giovanni Battista Cagnola, Milan (sold 1912); J. Pierpont Morgan (American), London and New York (1912–1913)
Jeannez, Edouard. Inventaire descriptif et raisonné des principaux objets d'art: ayant figuré a l'exposition rétrospective forézienne de Roanne 1890. Roanne: Imprimerie du Roannais Illustré, 1890. p. 9, pl. 4–5.
Exposition rétrospective forézienne: beaux-arts – arts décoratifs, 5–29 juin 1890. Catalogue. Roanne: Imprimerie Chorgnon et Bardiot, 1890. no. 58, p. 15, ill.
Leriche, Ernest. L'exposition rétrospective forézienne de Roanne en 1890. Extract of 'Roannais illustré'. Roanne: Imprimerie Chorgnon et Bardiot, 1891. pp. 30–31.
Molinier, Emile. Les Ivoires. Histoire générale des arts appliqués à l'industrie, Vol. 1. Paris: Librairie Centrale des Beaux-Arts, 1896. p. 206 n. 1.
Molinier, Emile. Catalogue des Ivoires. Paris: Musée du Louvre, 1896. p. 227.
Schlosser, Julius von. "Die Werkstatt der Embriachi in Venedig." Jahrbuch der Kunsthistorischen Sammlungen des Allerhöchsten Kaiserhauses 20 (1899). p. 241.
Venturi, Adolfo. Storia dell'arte italiana: Volume 4, La scultura del Trecento e le sue origini. Milan: Ulrico Hoepli, 1906. p. 891.
Ditchfield, Peter Hempson. "Art in Ivory." Christian Art: An Illustrated Monthly Magazine 2, no. 3 (December 1907). pp. 146–48.
Burlington Fine Arts Club. Catalogue of an Exhibition of Carvings in Ivory. London, 1923. p. 93.
Breck, Joseph, and Meyric R. Rogers. The Pierpont Morgan Wing: A Handbook. 2nd ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1929. p. 119.
Toesca, Pietro. Il Trecento. Storia dell'arte italiana, Vol. 2. Turin: Unione Tipografico–Editrice Torinese, 1951. p. 924.
Rodney, Nanette B. "Salome." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., 11, no. 7 (March 1953). ill. p. 192.
Dell'Acqua, Gian Alberto, ed. Embriachi, il trittico di Pavia. Milan: Franco Maria Ricci, 1982. p. 12.
Merlini, Elena. "I trittici portatili della Bottega degli Embriachi." Jahrbuch der Berliner Museen 33 (1991). p. 50.
Randall Jr., Richard H. The Golden Age of Ivory: Gothic Carvings in North American Collections. New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1993. p. 141.
Tomasi, Michele. "Baldassarre Ubriachi, le maître, le public." Revue de l'Art 134 (2001). p. 52.
Tomasi, Michele. "Gli Embriachi: l'«avorio» per il mercato." In Artifex bonus: Il mondo dell'artista medievale, edited by Enrico Castelnuovo. Grandi opere. Rome: Editori Laterza, 2004. p. 208.
Tomasi, Michele. "Le retable des Embriachi du musée du Louvre: datation, fonction, destination, iconographie." Revue des Musées de France: Revue du Louvre 55, no. 3 (2005). p. 53, fig. 10.
Tomasi, Michele. Monumenti d'avorio: I dossali degli Embriachi e i loro committenti. Studi, Vol. 16. Pisa: Edizioni della Normale, 2010. pp. 9, 12, 47–52, 126, 146–47, 146–47, 149, 155–56, 158 n. 194, 159–60, 179, 183 n. 39, 188–90, 200–204, 210–11, 231, 245–49, 250–51, 254, 262, 341, 354, 356–57, 358, 365; fig. 3, 20, 40, 63, 66–67, 75, 77.
Williamson, Paul, and Glyn Davies. Medieval Ivory Carvings, 1200–1550. Vol. 2. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 2014. pp. 755–58.
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Museum's collection of medieval and Byzantine art is among the most comprehensive in the world, encompassing the art of the Mediterranean and Europe from the fall of Rome to the beginning of the Renaissance.
