Pax with the Baptism of Christ in the River Jordan

Carved in relief from one segment of an elephant tusk. The missing handle was carved separately and secured on the reverse.

The handle on the reverse is missing.

…; from an unknown private collection, the Netherlands, to an unknown antiques dealer, the Netherlands, date unknown;¹¹Oral communication, Mrs Verlinde, Amsterdam (Sotheby’s), May 2013. his sale Amsterdam (Sotheby’s), 15 December 2004, no. 17, to Mr Osvaldo Gil Matias, Rio de Janeiro; by whom, donated to the museum, 2013

ObjectNumber: BK-2013-6

Credit line: Gift of the Osvaldo Gil Matias Collection, Rio de Janeiro

Depicted on this ivory pax or kustafel (kissing tablet) is a scene of John the Baptist baptising Christ in the River Jordan, set beneath a gothic arcade with a crosshatched background. Appearing between the two figures’ legs is a small escutcheon bearing a device that contains two hanging wisps of wheat and four small crosses, to be identified as the coat of arms of the Baldovini Del Pannocchia family in Florence.²²A connection between this Florentine family and the Low Countries has not yet been established. See also I. Reesing, ‘From Ivory to Pipeclay: The Reproduction of Late Medieval Sculpture in the Low Countries’, in E.M. Kavaler, F. Scholten and J. Woodall (eds.), Netherlandish Sculpture of the 16th Century (Netherlands Yearbook for History of Art/Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 67), Leiden/Boston 2017, pp. 256-85, esp. p. 264. The pax is carved from one segment of an elephant’s tusk.

In the late Middle Ages, the custom of exchanging kisses of peace among those attending Mass gave rise to the creation of the so-called osculatorium or pax, a new liturgical instrument.³³J. Braun, Das christliche Altargerät in seinem Sein und in seiner Entwicklung, Munich 1932, pp. 557-72; J. Bossy, Christianity in the West, 1400-1700, Oxford 1985, pp. 21-22. A pax – in Middle-Netherlandish commonly referred to as a paes, paesbert or paessteen – was a small plate or disc with a handle that circulated among the clergy and worshippers as an object to be kissed.⁴⁴F. Scholten, ‘Een Nederlandse ivoren pax uit de Late Middeleeuwen’, Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum 52 (2004), pp. 2-23, esp. p. 4. E. Verwijs and J. Verdam, Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, vol. 6, The Hague 1907, cols. 32-34; H. Gill, ‘Notes on the Leen and the buildings on its banks, including the churches of Lenton, Radford, Old Basford and Bulwell’, Transactions of the Thoroton Society 20 (1916). In the fifteenth century, it became customary practice for the celebrating priest, prior to Communion, to kiss the pax and then pass it on to his spiritual brothers gathered around the altar.⁵⁵P. Barnet (ed.), Images in Ivory: Precious Objects of the Gothic Age, exh. cat. Detroit (Detroit Institute of Arts)/Baltimore (Walters Art Gallery) 1997, p. 265. The church congregation would then be given its turn, though this was nowhere stipulated.⁶⁶E. Verwijs and J. Verdam, Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, vol. 6, The Hague 1907, cols. 32 and 33 (Ooc en eyst gheen costume dat men alle die meinschen die de messe hooren tpaeys gheeft te cussen). In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, paxes are often cited in the written sources, thus confirming these objects belonged to the common good, and executed in a wide variety of materials, e.g. gilt-silver, wood, ivory, mother-of-pearl, glass and pipeclay. The possession of such objects was by no means limited to the clergy, as laymen were also allowed to have their own paxes.⁷⁷F. Scholten, ‘Een Nederlandse ivoren pax uit de Late Middeleeuwen’, Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum 52 (2004), pp. 2-23, esp. pp. 4-6. E. Verwijs and J. Verdam, Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, vol. 6, The Hague 1907, cols. 33, 34; J. Braun, Das christliche Altargerät in seinem Sein und in seiner Entwicklung, Munich 1932, pp. 562-65; G. de Werd, Klevisches Silber, 15.-19. Jahrhundert, exh. cat. Cleves (Städtisches Museum Haus Koekoek) 1978-79, no. 7. In the sixteenth century, however, the pax gradually fell into disuse in the Low Countries, in part with the coming of the Reformation.⁸⁸F. Scholten, ‘Een Nederlandse ivoren pax uit de Late Middeleeuwen’, Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum 52 (2004), pp. 2-23, esp. pp. 5-6. See also E. Verwijs and J. Verdam, Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, vol. 6, The Hague 1907, col. 32, and J. Bossy, Christianity in the West, 1400-1700, Oxford 1985, pp. 71-72. J. Braun, Das christliche Altargerät in seinem Sein und in seiner Entwicklung, Munich 1932, p. 560 points out one instance in Seville (1512), where the circulation of the pax was seen as a disturbance of the Mass, resulting in the abolition of this practice.

Stylistically, the present pax is closely linked to a group of ivories produced in the Low Countries or Northern France from around 1500 and into the early decades of the sixteenth century. As early as the fifteenth century, workshops emerged in Flanders that were specialized in the making of stereotypical ivory courtship caskets and small Marian altarpieces, largely intended for the export market. This Flemish ‘assortment’ also included paxes and small diptychs bearing depictions of saints.⁹⁹R.H. Randall, ‘Dutch Ivories of the Fifteenth Century’, Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 45 (1994), pp. 126-39, esp. pp. 127-28. Within this fifteenth-century production in the north, Koch and Randall were the first to differentiate a number of ivories sharing the same distinct technique and style, which they attributed to one or more workshops active in the Northern Netherlands in the third quarter of the fifteenth century, possibly traceable to the city of Utrecht.¹⁰¹⁰R. Koch, ‘An Ivory Diptych from the Waning Middle Ages’, Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 17 (1958), no. 2, pp. 55-64 and R.H. Randall, ‘Dutch Ivories of the Fifteenth Century’, Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 45 (1994), pp. 126-39. The group encompasses small diptychs (or fragments thereof), paxes and a freestanding statuette of the Virgin and Christ. The ivories belonging to this potentially Netherlandish production are characterized by a marked emphasis on the framing of the scene – often with excessively compressed gothic, tripartite arches and rayonnant tracery – the crosshatched backgrounds and the fairly flat relief of the scene itself.¹¹¹¹R.H. Randall, ‘Dutch Ivories of the Fifteenth Century’, Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 45 (1994), pp. 126-39, esp. p. 129. With the inclusion of newly added pieces, the same group eventually expanded, therefore calling for a more detailed classification.¹²¹²Cf. H. Meurer, ‘Maria mit dem Kind’, Jahrbuch der Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen in Baden-Württemberg 31 (1994), pp. 254-55; P. Barnet (ed.), Images in Ivory: Precious Objects of the Gothic Age, exh. cat. Detroit (Detroit Institute of Arts)/Baltimore (Walters Art Gallery) 1997, p. 266, fig. 72a; R. Koekkoek, Gotische ivoren in het Catharijneconvent, coll. cat. Utrecht 1987, no. 16; Gotische ivoren in het Catharijneconvent, exh. cat. Utrecht 1987, no. 67. Sale Amsterdam (Sotheby’s), 20 December 2000, no. 13; J. Leeuwenberg with the assistance of W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1973, no. 798 (as ‘German, early 16th century’). This ivory, which came from the De Lupus collection in Brussels (before 1819), is a more ornate and perhaps even later variant of another example in Baltimore with Mary, John and Catharine (cf. R.H. Randall, ‘Dutch Ivories of the Fifteenth Century’, Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 45 (1994), pp. 126-39, esp. fig. 3); I. Reesing, ‘From Ivory to Pipeclay: The Reproduction of Late Medieval Sculpture in the Low Countries’, in E.M. Kavaler, F. Scholten and J. Woodall (eds.), Netherlandish Sculpture of the 16th Century (Netherlands Yearbook for History of Art/Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 67), Leiden/Boston 2017, pp. 256-85.

A number of the characteristics found in fifteenth-century Netherlandish ivory-carving also occur in a group of ivories that display a substantially higher level of artistic craftsmanship, with greater variations in form, theme and ornamentation. This more opulent production likely arose one generation later in response to a growing market for objects of private devotion among the wealthy living in the cities and members of the clerical class. The relatively large number of surviving pieces, including the present ivory, underscores the considerable scale of this northern production.¹³¹³Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, inv. no. F.1; Gotische ivoren, exh. cat. Utrecht (Museum Catharijneconvent) 1987, nos. 65, 66; Tardy (H.G. Lengellé), Les ivoires: Évolution décorative du Ier siècle à nos jours, Paris 1966, p. 39; M. Kryjanovskaja et al., Westeuropäische Elfenbeinarbeiten aus der Ermitage Leningrad, XI.-XIX. Jahrhundert, exh. cat. Berlin (Kunstgewerbemuseum, Berlin im Schloss Köpenick) 1974, no. 6; T. Brandenburg et al., Heilige Anna, grote moeder: De cultus van de Heilige Moeder Anna en haar familie in de Nederlanden en aangrenzende streken, exh. cat. Uden (Museum voor Religieuze Kunst) 1992, no. 53; R. Koekkoek, Gotische ivoren in het Catharijneconvent, coll. cat. Utrecht 1987, nos. 17, 18. See also the ivory relief Maria Immaculata in the Rijksmuseum (inv. no. BK-2008-69). Paxes make up a significant portion of this luxury production. Noteworthy is the application of letters and inscriptions commonly encountered on this group of ivories. Many of the scenes are derived from illustrations and printed books of hours made in Paris in the late fifteenth century. In September 1485, Anthoine Vérard (active 1485-1513) was probably the first Parisian publisher to introduce a printed and illustrated book of hours on the market.¹⁴¹⁴V. Reinburg, French Books of Hours: Making an Archive of Prayer, c. 1400-1600, Cambridge (Mass.) 2012, p. 37. I. Reesing, ‘From Ivory to Pipeclay: The Reproduction of Late Medieval Sculpture in the Low Countries’, in E.M. Kavaler, F. Scholten and J. Woodall (eds.), Netherlandish Sculpture of the 16th Century (Netherlands Yearbook for History of Art/Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 67), Leiden/Boston 2017, pp. 256-85, esp. pp. 272-79. Its publication sparked the production and distribution of prayer books on a scale never witnessed prior to this time, a development that would continue until circa 1530. Other Parisian printers, publishers and booksellers followed in Vérard’s footsteps, entering this new and lucrative market, such as the publisher Simon Vostre (active 1486-1518), the printer Philippe Pigouchet (active 1488-1518) and the printer/publisher Thielman Kerver (active 1497-1522). Together these men were responsible for the majority of the overall book production.¹⁵¹⁵V. Reinburg, French Books of Hours: Making an Archive of Prayer, c. 1400-1600, Cambridge (Mass.) 2012, pp. 31-40. This scene of the Baptism of Christ in the River Jordan also likely finds its source in this booming publisher’s milieu, considering the evident stylistic and motif-related agreement with images appearing in Pigouchet’s and Kerver’s printed books of hours.¹⁶¹⁶Especially the similarity to several smaller Baptism scenes in Pigouchet’sand Kerver’s printed books of hours, see for example I. Nettekoven, Der Meister der Apokalypsenrose der Sainte Chapelle und die Pariser Buchkunst um 1500, Turnhout 2004, 245, figs. 170-71. Mention must also be made of the similarities between John the Baptist on the two paxes and the rendering of the same saint in an illustration of the Last Supper appearing in the cited prayer books from Paris. Nonetheless, not a single woodcut or engraving has ever been discovered in any of the surviving books of hours that could possibly have served as a direct model for these Netherlandish ‘kissing tablets’.¹⁷¹⁷I. Reesing, ‘From Ivory to Pipeclay: The Reproduction of Late Medieval Sculpture in the Low Countries’, in E.M. Kavaler, F. Scholten and J. Woodall (eds.), Netherlandish Sculpture of the 16th Century (Netherlands Yearbook for History of Art/Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 67), Leiden/Boston 2017, pp. 256-85, esp. p. 278.

An added dimension of this specific pax is its direct translation into a sixteenth-century terracotta relief which has been preserved together with its original terracotta mould in the Rijksmuseum (BK-2010-9-1 and -2). Both objects were discovered during the excavation of the ground consisting of a waste deposit of an old pottery in Leiden.¹⁸¹⁸F. Scholten, ‘Acquisitions: Medieval Sculpture from the Goldschmidt-Pol Collection and from Other Donors’, The Rijksmuseum Bulletin 59 (2011), pp. 414-35, esp. no. 11. As it turns out, a negative imprint of the ivory pax – not the Rijksmuseum piece, but a virtually identical version in the British Museum also bearing the Baldovini coat of arms¹⁹¹⁹London, British Museum, inv. no. 1878,1101.34. I. Reesing, ‘From Ivory to Pipeclay: The Reproduction of Late Medieval Sculpture in the Low Countries’, in E.M. Kavaler, F. Scholten and J. Woodall (eds.), Netherlandish Sculpture of the 16th Century (Netherlands Yearbook for History of Art/Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 67), Leiden/Boston 2017, pp. 256-85, esp. fig. 4. – was made in clay, with the escutcheon eliminated in order to anonymize the image. After drying and baking, this negative was used as a mould to serially produce inexpensive reliefs in terracotta – and perhaps even paxes – for a clientele less financially well-endowed than the Baldovini family. The connection between the two ivory paxes and the two terracotta pieces unearthed in Leiden serves not only as a vivid illustration of how luxury ‘high culture’ objects were transformed into artworks for the ‘commoner’, but also provides a further verification of the ivories’ Netherlandish origin.

Frits Scholten, 2024

F. Scholten, ‘Acquisitions. Sculpture’, The Rijksmuseum Bulletin 62 (2014), pp. 288-327, esp. no. 3; F. Scholten, ‘A European Panorama’, in F. Scholten (ed.), 1100-1600, coll. cat. Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum) 2015, pp. 6-35, esp. p. 13, fig. 7; I. Reesing, ‘From Ivory to Pipeclay. The Reproduction of Late Medieval Sculpture in the Low Countries’, in E.M. Kavaler, F. Scholten and J. Woodall (eds.), Netherlandish Sculpture of the 16th Century (Netherlands Yearbook for History of Art/Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 67), Leiden/Boston 2017, pp. 256-85, esp. pp. 260-64 and fig. 5

F. Scholten, 2024, 'anonymous, Pax with the Baptism of Christ in the River Jordan, Southern Netherlands, c. 1490 - c. 1520', in F. Scholten and B. van der Mark (eds.), European Sculpture in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.520988