File:The ivory workers of the middle ages (1906) (14593459909).jpg

Identifier: ivoryworkersmidage00cust (find matches)
Title: The ivory workers of the middle ages
Year: 1906 (1900s)
Authors: Cust, Anna Maria Elizabeth
Subjects: Ivories
Publisher: London, G. Bell and sons
Contributing Library: Getty Research Institute
Digitizing Sponsor: Getty Research Institute

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rtfranfais. Whether they are by the hand ofthe same craftsman seems a matter of doubt, asthe technique of the drapery varies somewhat; butnothing can equal the exquisite softness of theVirgins robes and the dignified pose, worthy ofthe best work of the thirteenth century. The ideal and pathetic group of The Descentf7^om the Cross now in the Louvre (Fig. 30). Itis strangely reminiscent in design, recalling theByzantine rendering of the same subject in aneleventh century ivory, late in the Bonaffe Col-lection, in which the Virgin raises the hand ofChrist to her lips with the same noble and re-strained gesture, while His lifeless body slipshelplessly down over the shoulder of Joseph ofArimathea, A similar group is sculptured inthe Church of Le Bourget in Savoy, which isalso useful in giving a clue to the fourth figure,which is evidently missing from the Louvregroup. Maskell, in the introductions to his Catalogue of ^ The Angel belongs to M. G. Chalandon and the Virgin toM. P. Gamier. 140
Text Appearing After Image:
A. GIRAUDON PHOTO.) (L0U\RE, PARIS 30. THE DESCENT FROM THE CROSSEnd of ihirteenlh century IVORY WORKERS Ivories in the Victoida a7td Albert MtcseM7n, refersto a small carving from the centre of a crozierwhich represents the Dead Christ on the knees ofthe Virgin, which is treated with strong but reservedfeeling. The series of religious tableaux cloans are verynumerous, especially in the fourteenth century; theyconsist of two, three or more pieces and were in-tended for private devotions or as portable decora-tions for the various altars of a church, being takenwith the cross and candles by the acolyte and placedon the altar for mass. The ornamentation wasusually in tiers of little scenes, or with one largecentral figure (Fig. 31). The subjects have littlevariety and are taken from the Passion or thepopular Legende doree. The scenes usually followin chronological order from the bottom of the leftleaf to the corresponding corner on the right.The composition is often very confused, owing

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