The Three Holy Women at the Holy Sepulcher

Information provided by the Metropolitan Museum:

North Italian; Made in Milan?
Elephant ivory; 7 1/2 x 4 1/4 in. (19 x 10.8 cm)
Purchase, The Cloisters Collection and Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, 1993 (1993.19)

This ivory plaque probably once served as part of a decorative cover for a liturgical manuscript. Depicted is the visit of the Three Marys to the Holy Sepulcher, the burial place of Christ, shown here as a cylindrical structure. This episode represents the attempt to convey the divinity of the risen Christ in visual terms. The stylistic vitality of this composition is exemplified in the deeply undercut, rhythmic carving of the trees and soldiers. The visual force of this work and its sculptural immediacy are characteristic of Milanese ivory carving of the tenth century.

Photo: The Cloisters, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York