Image: Victoria and Albert Museum (left leaf; right leaf)
Clavis number: ECMA 113
Other descriptors: none
Location: Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England
Accession number: A67.1925 (right leaf), 521-1893 (left leaf)
Category: ivories
Related literature: Protevangelium of James; Six-Books Dormition of the Virgin
Featured characters and locations: apostles, Elizabeth, Jesus Christ, Joseph (of Nazareth), Magi, Mary (Virgin).
1. DESCRIPTION
Material: ivory
Size: 18.8 cm height; 18.3 cm open width
Images: The right leaf (top panel) shows the Death of the Virgin Mary. Here the Virgin Mary is surrounded by the apostles and a figure of Jesus holding a child, representing the soul of Mary. In the left leaf (top panel) Jesus blesses Mary after she has ascended to heaven. The bottom portion of the artifact is read left to right and depicts the annunciation of Mary (an angel speaks to Mary, holding a book?) and the visitation (Mary and Elizabeth, standing), in the left panel. The right panel has the adoration of the Magi, with Mary holding the baby Christ, one Magi kneeling before her, and two Magi standing behind.
Date: ca. 1300–1310 CE
Provenance: made in France (probably Paris). The right leaf was in the possession of Mary Margaret Elizabeth Hamilton Roe (née Laurie) when exhibited on loan at the South Kensington Museum in 1887–1888; bequeathed to the Museum in 1925. The left leaf was in possession of a Rev. William Bird of Mordiford, Hertfordshire. The leaf passed to the Bateman collection in Youlgrave, Derbyshire, and was purchased by the Museum in 1893.
2. RELATION TO APOCRYPHAL LITERATURE
The depiction of the annunciation of the Virgin is related to the Protevangelium of James:
And she took the water pitcher and went out and filled it with water. And behold, there was a voice saying, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you. You are blessed among women.” And Mary looked all around her, to the right and left, to see from where the voice was coming. And she began trembling and went into her house and put the water pitcher down. And taking up the purple (thread) she sat down on her chair and began to spin the purple (thread). And behold, an angel stood before her saying, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor before the Master of all. You will conceive from his Word.” But when she heard this, Mary doubted herself and said, “If I conceive by the Lord, the living God, will I give birth like all other women give birth?” (11:1–6; trans. Lily Vuong, The Protevangelium of James [Early Christian Apocrypha 7; Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2019]; see also Ps.-Mt. 8:32–36)
The death of Mary is depicted in a variety of Dormition of the Virgin texts. One of the earliest of these is the Six-Books Dormition of the Virgin:
Then our Lord commanded Peter, and he drew near to Him,
and He said to him: “Now is the time; raise a psalm, and let
all created beings sing with the voice of Halleluia.” And when the created beings had sung with the voice of Halleluia, our Lord Jesus the Messiah prayed, and the holy angels gave glory. And straightway the soul of the blessed one departed from her, and He sent it to the mansions of the Father’s house. And my Lady Mary said to her Son, as she was dying: “Fare Thee well, Rabbuli! for lo, I am looking to Thy coming which is at hand.” And Simon Cephas ran, and John the young, and Paul and Thomas; and straightway John laid his hands upon her eyes and closed them. And our Lord commanded them to place the blessed one in a chariot of light; and the twelve apostles bore it as it went to the Paradise of Eden. (trans. William Wright, “The Departure of my Lady Mary from this World,” Journal of Sacred Literature and Biblical Record 7 [1865]: 108–60)
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Koechlin, Raymond. “Quelques groupes d’ivoires Gothiques Français.” Gazette des Beaux Arts 14 (1918): 225–46 (p. 238).
__________. Les Ivoires Gothiques Français. 3 vols. Paris: A. Picard, 1924 (vol. 1, pp. 17–19, p. XV).
Longhurst, Margaret H. Catalogue of Carvings in Ivory. 2 vols. London: Published under the authority of the Board of Education, 1927–1929 (vol. 2, p. 17).
Randall Jr., Richard H. The Golden Age of Ivory. Gothic Carvings in North American Collections. New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1993 (pp. 66, 70).
Williamson, Paul, and Glyn Davies. Medieval Ivory Carvings, 1200–1550. 2 vols. London: V&A Publishing, 2014 (vol. 1, pp. 244–45).
4. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Entry created by Karan Dhillon, under the supervision of Tony Burke, York University, 6 April 2021.