Images: John Rylands Library (central image); University of Washington (St Petersburg portions; see also Kornbluth Photography); Louvre (Louvre portion; see also Kornbluth Photography)
Clavis number: ECMA 133
Other descriptors: Ivory Nativity (John Rylands Library)
Location and accession numbers: the materials are divided between the State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg (Ω 300 and Ω 301), the John Rylands Library (Book-covers 6; Ivory 6), Berlin’s Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz (Frühchristlich-Byzantinische Sammlung 2978), and Louvre Museum (OA 11149)
Category: book covers
Related literature: Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew, Protevangelium of James
Featured characters and locations: Anna (mother of Mary), Jesus Christ, Joseph (of Nazareth), Judith/Juthine (servant), Magi, Mary (Virgin), Salome (midwife).
1. DESCRIPTION
Material: ivory
Size: (1) 23.3 × 12.3 cm; (2) 7.3 × 30.8 cm; (3) and (4) 10.3 × 6.9 cm; (5) 7.1 × 30.5 cm
Images:
(1) Manchester, John Rylands Library, Rylands ivories 6: central plaque with Mary enthroned with Christ child on lap; three Magi approach from left and right; Nativity scene in lower field with Mary reclining, Joseph looking on, an ox and ass at the crib, and Salome.
(2) Berlin, Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Frühchristlich-Byzantinische Sammlung 2978: top piece of diptych depicting two flying angels carrying a large wreath enclosing a cross. Two other angels stand at left and right holding cross-staffs and spheres.
(3) and (4) State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg (Ω 300 and Ω 301): in (3) Anna sits in a garden, approached by an angel. Tree branches above with three birds. In (4) Anna is approached by the servant girl Juthine bearing a headband.
(5) Louvre OA 11149: (left to right) angel approaches Mary, sitting in a wicker chair and holding spinning materials; Mary holds a bowl across from temple priest holding staff, with bridge between them; and journey to Bethlehem with Joseph behind Mary on donkey led by angel, holding cross.
Date: ca. 6th–8th cent.
Provenance: Syria or Egypt; Manchester portion formerly in Earl of Crawford collection (Haigh Hall), purchased by John Rylands Library in 1901; Berlin portion purchased in 1905, formerly in Botkin collection; Louvre portion purchased in 1987, formerly in Stroganoff collection (Rome) and collection of Comtesse de Béhague (Paris).
2. RELATION TO APOCRYPHAL LITERATURE
The Nativity scene in the John Rylands image features the midwife Salome (from Prot. Jas. and Ps.-Mt.) and the the ox and ass (from Ps.-Mt.):
The midwife entered and said, “Mary, ready yourself. For there is no small contention concerning you.” And when Mary heard this, she made herself ready. And Salome inserted her finger into her to test her physical condition. And Salome cried out and said, “Woe for my lawlessness and for my disbelief; for I have tested the living God. And behold, my hand is on fire and falling away from me.” (Prot. Jas. 20; trans. Lily Vuong, The Protevangelium of James [Early Christian Apocrypha 7; Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2019]; cf. Ps.-Mt. 13:3–5).
Now, on the third day after the birth of the Lord, Mary went out of the cave and into a stable, and she placed the boy in a manger, and an ox and an ass bent their knees and worshiped him. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah, who said, “The ox knows his owner and the ass the manger of his Lord.” And these animals, staying by his side, were constantly worshiping him. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Habakkuk, who said, “Between the two animals you will make yourself known.” And so Joseph and Mary remained in the same place with the child for three days. (14; trans. Brandon W. Hawk, The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew and the Nativity of Mary [Early Christian Apocrypha 8; Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2019]).
The St Petersburg portions (Ω 300 and Ω 301) depict two scenes that occur in sequence in Prot. Jas.:
Now the great day of the Lord drew near, and Juthine her slave said to her, “How long will you humble your soul? Look, the great day of the Lord is approaching, and you are not allowed to grieve. But take this headband, which the mistress of the work gave me; I am not allowed to wear it because I am your slave and it has a royal insignia.” And Anna said, “Away from me! I will never do these things. The Lord God has greatly humbled me. Who knows if a wicked-doer has given this to you, and you have come to make me share in your sin.” And Juthine her slave said, “Why would I curse you? Because you have not listened to me? The Lord God has closed your womb to prevent you from bearing fruit in Israel.” (2:2–6; trans. Vuong)
And behold an angel of the Lord appeared and said to her, “Anna, Anna, the Lord has heard your entreaty. You will conceive a child and give birth, and your offspring will be spoken of throughout the whole world.” (Prot. Jas. 4:1; trans. Vuong; see also Ps.-Mt. 2:8–10)
The three scenes on the Louvre portion again appear in Protevangelium of James (with parallels in Ps.-Mt.):
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. Vuong; see also Ps.-Mt. 8:32–36)
And the high priest said, “Give back the virgin you received from the temple of the Lord.” And Joseph burst into tears. And the high priest said, “I will have you drink the Lord’s water of conviction,’ and it will reveal your sin before your own eyes.” And the high priest took (the water) and made Joseph drink it and sent him away to the wilderness, but he came back whole. And then he made the child (Mary) drink it and also sent her away into the wilderness, but she too came back whole. And all the people were amazed because their sin was not revealed. And the high priest said, “If the Lord God did not reveal your sin, then neither do I condemn you.” And he let them go. And Joseph took Mary and returned home, rejoicing and praising the God of Israel (Prot. Jas. 16; trans. Vuong; see also Ps.-Mt. 12)
And he saddled his donkey and sat her on it; and his son led it while Samuel followed behind. As they approached the third mile, Joseph turned around and saw that she was sad. And he said to himself, “Maybe the child in her is causing her uneasiness.” Then Joseph turned around again and saw her laughing and said to her, “Mary, why is it that I see your face laughing one moment, but then sad another moment?” And she replied, “Joseph, because my eyes see two peoples: one lamenting and mourning and the other one cheerful and rejoicing. And when they came to the halfway point, Mary said to him, “Joseph, take me down from the donkey because the child inside me is pressing his weight on me to come forth.” And he took her down from there and said to her, “Where can I take you to hide your shameful nakedness because this place is wilderness.” (17:5–11; trans. Vuong; see also Ps.-Mt. 13:1–4)
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bank, Alisa Vladimirovna, and Marina Besonova. Iskusstvo Vizantii v sobraniiakh SSSR. Katalog vystavki. 3 vols. Moscow: Sovetskii khudozhnik, 1977 (no. 191, pp. 129, 131).
Cartlidge, David R. and J. Keith Elliott. Art and the Christian Apocrypha. London and New York: Routledge, 2001 (pp. 38–39, 90–91).
Caubet, Annie, and Danielle Gaborit-Chopin. Ivoires: De l’Orient ancien aux temps modernes. Catalogue de l’exposition du Musée du Louvre (23 juin–30 août 2004). Paris: Réunion des musées nationaux, 2004 (p. 114, fig. 112, no. 123).
Dalton, Ormonde Maddock. Byzantine Art and Archaeology. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1911 (p. 180, fig. 114).
Delassus, Marie. “À propos d’une pyxide en ivoire protobyzantine conservée au musée du Louvre.” Pages 61–99 in Études coptes XV: Dix-septième journée d’études (Lisbonne, 18–20 juin 2015). Edited by Anne Boud’hors, Anne and Catherine Louis. Cahiers de la Bibliothèque copte 22. Paris: De Boccard, 2018 (p. 87 n. 136).
Lafontaine-Dosogne, Jacqueline. Iconographie de la Vierge dans l’empire Byzantin et en Occident. 2 vols. Bruxelles: Académie royale de Belgique, 1964–1965 (vol. 1, pp. 70–71).
Volbach, Wolfgang Fritz. Elfenbeinarbeiten der Spätantike und des frühen Mittelalters. 1952. 3rd ed. Mainz am Rhein: Philipp von Zabern, 1976 (no. 126–129).
Weitzman, Kurt, ed. Age of Spirituality: Late Antique and Early Christian Art, Third to Seventh Century. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1979 (pp. 509–12).
__________. “Ivory Sculpture of the Macedonian Renaissance.” Pages 1–12 in Kolloquium über spätantike und frühmittelalterliche Skulptur. Vol. 2: Vortragstexte. Edited by V. Milojcic. Mainz: Von Zabern, 1971 (p. 12).
4. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Entry created by Shanuga Rajkumar, under the supervision of Tony Burke, York University, 5 April 2021.