Crucifixion Iconography in a Group of Carolingian Ivory Plaques

* This paper is a condensation of a dissertation submitted at the Institute of Fine Arts, N. Y. U., and carried out under the direction of Dr. Harry Bober. Although I cannot fully indicate the extent to which Dr. Bober was of assistance, suffice it to say that without his aid I would still be struggling with the intricacies of the problem. On the other hand, errors of judgment and questionable assertions can only be attributed to the author.

I would also like to acknowledge the assistance of a French Government Fellowship which enabled me to study the ivories firsthand, and to thank the various library and museum officials here and abroad who eased my task and made it so much more pleasant.

Abstract

During the ninth century a number of ivory plaques depicting the Crucifixion were produced within the Carolingian empire. Despite many variations these plaques comprise a unique, unified iconographic group. Those to be studied here are: cover of Pericopes of Henry II (Munich, Staatsbibl. cod. lat. 4452), hereafter Munich I; London, Victoria and Albert Museum No. 250–1867 (London I); London, Victoria and Albert Museum No. 251–1867 (London II); Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale ms lat. 9453 (Paris I); Munich, Nationalmuseum ma 160 (Munich II); cover of Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale ms lat. 9383 (Paris II); and London, Victoria and Albert Museum No. 266–1867 (London III). The ivories making up the bulk of this group present the Crucifixion in a way which must certainly be considered an innovation of the Carolingian period, for their iconography has no known prototype or single textual source and is limited, furthermore (to the best of my knowledge), to the medium of ivory.