Carved in relief and originally furnished with hinges.

The hinges are missing and the securing points have been restored.

…; collection Albergatus Ehlen, prior of the Carthusians in Trier, 1781;¹¹Inscription right wing of the diptych on the reverse. …; Welschnonnenkloster, Trier, ?1801²²Keuze uit recente schenkingen en legaten’, ­Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum 40 (1992), pp. 290-323, esp. pp. 297-98. (first recorded in 1868³³E. Aus’m Weerth, Kunstdenkmäler des christlichen Mittelalters in den Rheinlanden: Bildnerei, Bonn 1868, no. 7 on p. 91 and pl. LVIII.) ; …; collection Mgr Emile Schoolmeesters (1842-1914), Liège, by 1905;⁴⁴M.G. Terme, L’art ancien au pays de Liège: Album de l’Exposition universelle de Liège 1905, exh. cat. Liège [1907], pl. XXXIII. …; private collection, France;⁵⁵‘Keuze uit recente schenkingen en legaten’, ­Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum 40 (1992), pp. 290-323, esp. p. 298. from the dealer Bernard Blondeel, Antwerp, acquired by Willem Neutelings (1916-1986), Brasschaat, 1981; his wife Jeanne Neutelings-Heuts, Brasschaat, 1986; by whom, donated to the museum, 1992

Object number: BK-1992-28

Credit line: Gift of J.M. Neutelings-Heuts, Brasschaat

In the eighteenth century, this ivory diptych was in the possession of a Carthusian monk residing in the city of Trier: written in ink on the reverse of the right-hand wing (fig. a) is a Latin inscription that reads: verus Possessor Albergatus Ehlen Prior Cartusiae Trevirensis. 1781. ([the] rightful owner [is] Albergatus Ehlen, prior of the Carthusians in Trier). Inscribed on the reverse of the left-hand wing (fig. b), we find the following text: Quator eburnea Imagines, dicuntur opera Seculi 800mi (Four ivory images [of which] it is said [that they are] works from the 8th century). Inscriptions of this kind are not only rare, but also of particular importance when attempting to establish the history of the use and reception of such diptychs.⁶⁶E. von Philippovich, ‘Elfenbensarbejder i Thorvaldsens Museum’, Meddeleser fra Thorvaldsens Museum 1962, pp. 71-78, esp. pp. 75-78; E.D. Schmidt, ‘Paul Heermann’s ivoren “Samson en twee Filistijnen” naar Michelangelo’, Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum 45 (1997), pp. 135-51, esp. p. 105, note 13. Ehlen refers to himself as the ‘true owner’, possibly implying that the diptych was his own personal possession as opposed to belonging to the Carthusian monastery itself. The diptych would then have been used for private devotion, the very same purpose for which it was originally commissioned centuries before. Equally telling is the prior’s perception that the ivory might have been carved in the eighth century. He was therefore very well aware of the object’s significant antiquity, albeit purportedly six centuries too early. In reality, the diptych was produced around the third quarter of the fourteenth century, most likely in the Mosan region or north-eastern France.⁷⁷Oral communication, Richard Randall, 8 September 1993.

The iconography of this small work concerns the life of Christ, essentially forming a highly condensed narrative depiction of Christian Salvation history. The diptych bears four traditional scenes (reading from the left-hand to the right-hand panel): in the lower registers, the Nativity (left wing) and the Adoration of the Magi (right wing); in the upper registers, the Crucifixion and the Last Judgment. Among fourteenth-century diptychs of this sort, only the scene of the Last Judgment signals a relatively new element, possibly betraying a northern influence.⁸⁸R.H. Randall, Masterpieces of Ivory from the Walters Art Gallery, coll. cat. Baltimore 1985, no. 310. The Nativity is the moment of the incarnation, when Christ became flesh – in effect, the starting point of God’s plan for the world’s salvation. The three kings precede the worshipper in prayer and adoration – a scene formally echoed in the scene appearing above it, in which Mary and John the Evangelist intercede before Christ. These figures of adoration and intercession were presented to the diptych’s medieval user – in all probability, the member of a monastic community – as exempla, implicitly offering him the prospective reward of a place in heaven.⁹⁹H. Stahl, ‘Narrative Structure and Content in Some Gothic Ivories of the Life of Christ’, in P. Barnet (ed.), Images in Ivory: Precious Objects of the Gothic Age, exh. cat. Detroit (Detroit Institute of Arts)/Baltimore (Walters Art Gallery) 1997, pp. 94-114, esp. p. 105. In the scene of the Adoration of the Magi, Mary’s coronation by an angel likewise refers to this heavenly reward. By reading and meditating on these scenes in this manner, and above all by living a life in accordance with the message they conveyed, the worshipper was reminded of Christ’s role as saviour.

A sequence of these four scenes was by no means uncommon among examples of fourteenth-century ivory-carving in north-western Europe. A diptych in the Schnütgen Museum in Cologne displays exactly the same scenes, even if some details of the iconography have been omitted.¹⁰¹⁰H. van Os et al., Gebed in schoonheid: Schatten van privé-devotie in Europa: 1300-1500, exh. cat. Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum) 1994-95, pp. 74-75. Missing in the background of the Nativity, for instance, is the small figure of Joseph, to whom the angel behind the arch – still present, though now without purpose – proclaims the birth of his son. In terms of style and iconography, a diptych in the Suermondt-Ludwig Museum in Aachen bears a far greater similarity to the Amsterdam ivory.¹¹¹¹E.G. Grimme, ‘Neuzugänge zu den Sammlungen des Suermondt-Museums’, Aachener Kunstblätter 30 (1965), p. 7-19, esp. p. 8, no. 1; H. van Os et al., Gebed in schoonheid: Schatten van privé-devotie in Europa: 1300-1500, exh. cat. Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum) 1994-95, pp. 74-75. Three of the four scenes are in fact exactly alike; with the exception of the Last Judgment, which has been replaced by the Coronation of the Virgin. There is no doubt that both ivories came from the same (Mosan?) workshop, where any one of these scenes could apparently be combined in accordance with the patron’s wish.

Frits Scholten, 2024

E. Aus’m Weerth, Kunstdenkmäler des christlichen Mittelalters in den Rheinlanden: Bildnerei, Bonn 1868, no. 7 on p. 91 and pl. LVIII; M.G. Terme, L’art ancien au pays de Liège: Album de l’Exposition universelle de Liège 1905, exh. cat. Liège [1907], pl. XXXIII; R. Koechlin, Les ivoires gothiques français, 3 vols., Paris 1924, vol. 2, no. 783, pl. CXXXII; E.G. Grimme, ‘Neuzugänge zu den Sammlungen des Suermondt-Museums’, Aachener Kunstblätter 30 (1965), p. 7-19, esp. p. 8, no. 1; H. Schnitzler, Das Schnütgen-Museum: Eine Auswahl, coll. cat. Cologne 1968, under no. 104; R.H. Randall, Masterpieces of Ivory from the Walters Art Gallery, coll. cat. Baltimore 1985, under no. 310; ‘Keuze uit recente schenkingen en legaten’, Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum 40 (1992), pp. 290-323, esp. pp. 297-98, fig. 9; H. van Os et al., Gebed in schoonheid: Schatten van privé-devotie in Europa: 1300-1500, exh. cat. Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum) 1994-95, pp. 10-13, 25, 74, 175; ‘Recent Acquisitions at the Department of Sculpture and Decorative Arts, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam’, The Burlington Magazine 137 (1995), pp. 419-24, esp. p. 421, no. VII; H. van Os, Een engel in de koffer: Willem Neutelings en zijn verzameling, Baarn 1996, pp. 7, 27-28 and fig. 33; H. Stahl, ‘Narrative Structure and Content in Some Gothic Ivories of the Life of Christ’, in P. Barnet (ed.), Images in Ivory: Precious Objects of the Gothic Age, exh. cat. Detroit (Detroit Institute of Arts)/Baltimore (Walters Art Gallery) 1997, pp. 94-114, esp. pp. 104-05 and fig. VII-6; F. Scholten and G. de Werd, Een hogere werkelijkheid: Duitse en Franse beeldhouwkunst 1200-1600 uit het Rijksmuseum Amsterdam/Eine höhere Wirklichkeit, Deutsche und Französische Skulptur 1200-1600 aus dem Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, exh. cat. Cleves (Museum Kurhaus Kleve) 2004-06, no. 60; P. te Poel, Collectie Neutelings Bonnefantenmuseum, coll. cat. Maastricht 2007, pp. 12, 13, 44, 88, 94; F. Scholten (ed.), 1100-1600, coll. cat. Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum) 2015, no. 11; L. Hendrikman (ed.), Collectie Neutelings: Vier eeuwen middeleeuwse sculptuur, coll. cat. Maastricht (Bonnefantenmuseum) 2016, pp. 15-16, fig. VIII

F. Scholten, 2024, 'anonymous, Diptych with the Nativity, Adoration of the Magi, Crucifixion and the Last Judgement, Meuse area, c. 1375', in F. Scholten and B. van der Mark (eds.), European Sculpture in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/200140405