Right wing of a diptych: Christ in judgement

England, second quarter of the fourteenth century

Ivory

H. 8.1 cm (3 3/16 in.); W. 6.5 cm (2 9/16 in.)

Provenance

Formerly Léonce Rosenberg Collection, (his sale, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 12 June 1924, lot 84); purchased by Paul Robert Gustav Horst (1863–1958); sold by his son Robert Horst in London, 1961 (Christie’s, 28 November 1961, lot 78).

Literature

Lowden, J., Medieval and Later Ivories in the Courtauld Gallery. Complete Catalogue, London, 2013, pp. 66–67, fig. 38.

Study

This wing of a diptych is surrounded by a smooth border, with the principal scene framed in a quatrefoil set within a vertical lozenge. The four corners of the wing contain figures of kneeling angels: those on the lower part use both arms to support the sides of the lozenge while those in the upper corners each hold an incense boat and censer, swung in their right hands. In the middle, Christ the Judge appears with a naked torso, his shoulders covered by a mantle and revealing his wounds. Kneeling before him, the Virgin and Saint John are represented as intercessors. Behind them, two angels hold the instruments of the Passion – the lance and nails on the left and the crown of thorns on the right.

At Christ’s feet, the Resurrection of the dead is represented by two small-scale figures wrapped in shrouds; their hands are clasped together, and they appear to be returning to life. The very specific composition of this piece can be found on a small group of ivories which are also extremely close in terms of style. Among these we can cite a wing with the Nativity in Cambridge,¹ which formed a diptych with a Trinity in the National Museum of American Art in Washington,²and two other wings in London, one with the Assumption of the Virgin, in the British Museum,³ and another Trinity in the Courtauld Institute of Art.⁴ The Courtauld Institute also has the cast of a diptych belonging to the same group of ivories (although its whereabouts are unknown), in which a Trinity is hinged to a Christ in Judgement with a composition almost identical to the wing studied here.⁵

Each of these different ivories has the same general layout based on a quatrefoil inscribed in a vertical lozenge, with the corners most often containing angels or, in the case of the piece in Washington, the symbols of the Evangelists.

Left wing of a diptych: The Nativity, England, second quarter of the 14th century. Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum.

Right wing of a diptych: The Trinity, England, second quarter of the 14th century. Washington D. C., National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Left wing of a diptych: The Trinity, England, second quarter of the 14th century. London, Courtauld Institute.

Diptych: The Trinity; Christ in Judgment, 19th century cast from a diptych which present whereabouts is unknown. London, Courtauld Institute.

Randall was the first to identify this group, which he believed was produced in England during the second quarter of the fourteenth century, particularly because of the recurring theme of the Holy Trinity, and the specific arrangement of figures, which has echoes in English illuminated manuscripts of the first half of the fourteenth century, such as the miniature of the Trinity in the Pabenham-Clifford Hours in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.⁶ More recently, John Lowden disputed the proposal of English authorship, favouring an origin in northern France, again in the second quarter of the fourteenth century. According to him, the change of attribution is justified because the iconography of the Trinity was not specific to England and is also found in France and Germany.⁷ However, the connections Randall made with English miniatures, as regards both iconography and composition, appear convincing. In addition, we may point out that most ivories in this group have a history that relates to England.⁸

The Holy Trinity with John of Pabenham and Joan Clifford. Pabenham-Clifford Hours, (fº28v.), England, circa1315–1320. Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum.

R. H. Randall, The Golden Age of Ivory. Gothic Carvings in North American Collections, New York, 1993, p. 70, fig. 10. Inv. M.21-1917; 9.6 × 7.2 cm.

Ibidem, nº62, pp. 70–71; 9.6 × 7.2 cm.

J. Lowden, Medieval and Later Ivories in the Courtauld Gallery. Complete Catalogue, Londres, 2013, fig. 39, p. 67; R. H. Randall, The Golden Age of Ivory. Gothic Carvings in North American Collections, New York, 1993, p. 71.

J. Lowden, Medieval and Later Ivories in the Courtauld Gallery. Complete Catalogue, Londres, 2013, nº7, pp. 62–67 ; R. H. Randall, The Golden Age of Ivory. Gothic Carvings in North American Collections, New York, 1993, p. 71.

J. Lowden, Medieval and Later Ivories in the Courtauld Gallery. Complete Catalogue, Londres, 2013, p. 64, fig. 36.

MS 242, formerly known as the Grey-FitzPayn Hours: see R. H. Randall, The Golden Age of Ivory. Gothic Carvings in North American Collections, New York, 1993, p. 71.

J. Lowden, Medieval and Later Ivories in the Courtauld Gallery. Complete Catalogue, Londres, 2013, p. 67.

Three of these wings are now housed in English collections; the one at the Courtauld Institute was acquired before 1860 by Thomas Gambier Parry. Moreover, our wing has an old label on its reverse inscribed thus: Right hand Leaf of a Diptych “Flemish” 1450. A Majesty: Our Saviour surrounded by Saints enclosed in an Architectural Aureol. This probably dates from its time in the Horst collection between 1924 and 1961.