Plaque from a Portable Altar Showing the Crucifixion
Unknown Artist
1050–1100
Medium
walrus ivory
Dimensions
5.1 × 9.6 cm
Classification
Ivory
Department
Medieval Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of Arnold Seligmann, Rey and Company, Inc.
Accession Number
1922.359
About this artwork
These intricately carved ivory panels once decorated the sides of a portable altar. Three of the plaques, those depicting Christ in Majesty and his apostles, were the first major acquisition of William M. Milliken, the museum's first curator of decorative arts and later director (1930–58). They were purchased from Emile Rey, the New York partner of Arnold Seligmann, Rey and Company, who had been closely associated with J. P. Morgan, Henry Walters, and other important American collectors. The fou...