PRE-ROMANESQUE SCULPTOR, Italian
(active 960s in Milan)

Christ Receiving Magdeburg Cathedral from Emperor Otto I

962-68
Ivory plaque, 13 x 11 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

One of the most famous ivory carvings to survive from the tenth century, this plaque depicts Christ enthroned against an open worked checkerboard background. He is blessing a model of a church presented to him by Emperor Otto the Great (r. 962-973) and a host of saints including Peter, who holds his attribute, the keys. The ivory was destined for Otto's imperial church dedicated to Saint Mauritius in Magdeburg (Saxony) which was raised to the seat of an archbishopric in 968.




© Web Gallery of Art, created by Emil Krén and Daniel Marx.