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Source Description
The Mother of God is seated on a lavishly carved, high-backed throne. Two angels hover above, drawing attention to the Christ child poised in her lap. Representations of the enthroned Virgin and Child have a long tradition in Byzantine art, stretching back as far as the 6th century. With one hand raised in blessing, the other holding a scroll, Christ is portrayed here as an emotionless and supernatural child, visualizing for the pious beholder the mystery of his incarnation.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
107310
label
Ivory Plaque with Enthroned Mother of God ("The Stroganoff Ivory")
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
107310
contentType
object
title
Ivory Plaque with Enthroned Mother of God ("The Stroganoff Ivory")
description
The Mother of God is seated on a lavishly carved, high-backed throne. Two angels hover above, drawing attention to the Christ child poised in her lap. Representations of the enthroned Virgin and Child have a long tradition in Byzantine art, stretching back as far as the 6th century. With one hand raised in blessing, the other holding a scroll, Christ is portrayed here as an emotionless and supernatural child, visualizing for the pious beholder the mystery of his incarnation.
date
950–1025
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q60761435
genreSpecific
Ivory
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 25.3 x 17.2 x 1.8 cm (9 15/16 x 6 3/4 x 11/16 in.)
cul
Byzantium, Constantinople, Byzantine period
accession
1925.1293
Source extras
tec
ivory
tombstone
Ivory Plaque with Enthroned Mother of God ("The Stroganoff Ivory"), 950–1025. Byzantium, Constantinople, Byzantine period. Ivory; overall: 25.3 x 17.2 x 1.8 cm (9 15/16 x 6 3/4 x 11/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of J. H. Wade, 1925.1293
collection
MED - Byzantine
didYouKnow
This ivory is also known as the <em>Stroganoff Ivory </em>because it was once in the collection of Sergei Grigoryevich Stroganoff, a Russian statesman and art historian.
citations
citation
"Catalogue of the Douceau Museum" <em>Gentleman's Magazine </em>(June 1836)
page_number
No. 39
citation
<em>Trésor de numismatique et de glyptique ou recueil général de médailles, monnaies, pierres gravées, bas-reliefs,</em> etc ... Choix historique des médailles des Papes, depuis les milieu du XVe siècle jusqu' à nos jours. Paris: Rittner et Goupil, 1839.
page_number
pl. 51
citation
Didron, A.N. <em>Annales Archéologiques </em>vol XVII (1857)
page_number
p. 362
citation
Labarte, J. <em>Les Arts Industriels</em> vol. 1 (1864).
page_number
p. 88
citation
Westwood, J. O.<em> A Descriptive Catalogue of the Fictile Ivories in the South Kensington Museum: With an Account of the Continental Collections of Classical and Mediæval Ivories. </em>1876.
page_number
p. 79, no. 55.26
citation
Bayet, Ch. <em>L'art Byzantin.</em> Paris: Ancienne maison quantin, Librairies-imprimeries réunies, May & Motteroz, 1883.
page_number
p. 192
citation
Molinier, Emile.<em> Les ivoires. Paris: Librairie centrale des beaux-arts</em>, 1896.
page_number
p. 102, 103
citation
Hermanin, F. <em>l'Arte</em> vol. 1 (1898)
page_number
p. 9
citation
Graeven, Hans. <em>Frühchristliche und mittelalterliche Elfenbeinwerke in photographischer Nachbildung.</em> Rom: Instituto archeol. germanico, 1898.
page_number
p. 36, no. 67
citation
Kraus, Franz Xaver, and Joseph Sauer. Geschichte der christlichen Kunst. Freiburg im Breisgau: Herder'sche Verlagshandlung, 1896.
citation
Venturi, Adolfo.<em> Storia dell'arte italiana. </em>Milano: U. Hoepli, 1901.
page_number
p. 598, fig. 426
citation
<em>Les Arts</em> I (1902)
page_number
p. 40
citation
Muñoz, A. <em>Ausonia</em> vol. II (Rome, 1907).
page_number
p. 109
citation
Pollak, Ludwig, and Antonio Muñoz. Pieces de choix de la collection du comte Gregoire Stroganoff a Rome. Rome: Imprimerie de l'Union editrice, 1911.
page_number
plate CXVI, p. 161
citation
Dalton, O. M. <em>Byzantine Art and Archaeology.</em> Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, 1911.
page_number
p. 230
citation
Pollak, Ludwig, and Antonio Muñoz<em>. Pieces de choix de la collection du comte Gregoire Stroganoff a Rome</em>. Rome: Imprimerie de l'Union editrice, 1911.
page_number
p. 161, pl CXVI
citation
Christie's, May 1, 1913
page_number
Lot. No. 20
citation
Volbach, Wolfgang Fritz.<em> Mittelalterliche elfenbeinarbeiten</em>. Berlin: E. Wasmuth a. g, 1922.
page_number
p. 26
citation
Pelka, Otto.<em> Elfenbein</em>. Berlin: R.C. Schmidt & Co, 1923.
page_number
p. 77, fig. 44
citation
Glück, Heinrich.<em> Die christliche Kunst des Ostens.</em> Berlin: B. Cassirer, 1923.
page_number
p. 44, pl. 64
citation
W. M. M. "The Stroganoff Ivory." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 13, no. 2 (1926)
page_number
pp. 27-29
citation
<em>The Art News</em> (January 9, 1926).
page_number
p. 11
citation
<em>The Art News</em> (February 27, 1926).
page_number
p. 6
citation
<em>The Wade Memorial Bulletin</em> (April 1926).
citation
<em>The Graphic London</em> (December 25, 1926).
citation
Duthuit, Georges.<em> Byzance et l'art du XIIe siècle.</em> Paris: Stock, 1926.
page_number
p. 33
citation
Schmitz, Hermann. <em>The Encyclopedia of Furniture, An Outline History of Furniture Design in Egypt, Assyria, Persia, Greece, Rome, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Germany, England, Scandinavia, Spain, Russia and in the Near and Far East Up to the Middle of the Nineteenth Century.</em> New York: McBride, 1926.
page_number
p. 22
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1928.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 13
citation
Bossert, Helmuth Theodor. <em>Geschichte des Kunstgewerbes aller Zeiten und Völker, in Verbindung mit zahlreichen Fachgelehrten herausgegeben von Dr. H. Th. Bossert</em>. Berlin: E. Wasmuth, a.g, 1928.
page_number
p. 174
citation
Goldschmidt, Adolph and Kurt Weitzmann.<em> Die Byzantinischen Elfenbeinskulptures des X-XXXII </em>(Berlin, B. Cassirer 1934).
page_number
no. 79, pl. XXXII
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Catalogue of the Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition of the Cleveland Museum of Art: The Official Art Exhibit of the Great Lakes Exposition : June Twenty-Sixth to October Fourth 1936</em>. [Cleveland, Ohio]: [Cleveland Museum of Art], 1936.
page_number
No. 10
citation
Roos, Frank J. <em>An Illustrated Handbook of Art History.</em> New York: Macmillan, 1954.
page_number
pl. A, p. 73
citation
Milliken, William. "Silver Jubilee Exhibition." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art </em>28, no.6 (June 1941): 88-108
page_number
Mentioned: p. 90; Reproduced: p. 96
citation
Walters Art Gallery (Baltimore, Md.), and Dorothy Eugenia Miner. Early <em>Christian and Byzantine Art, An Exhibition Held at the Baltimore Museum of Art,</em> April 25-June 22 [1947]. Baltimore: Trustees of the Walters Art Gallery, 1947.
page_number
Cat. No. 126
citation
Milliken, William M. "Early Christian and Byzantine Art in America." <em>The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism</em> 5, no. 4 (1947).
page_number
fig. 1
citation
"Arts" <em>Beaux-Arts </em>(May 18, 1947).
page_number
p. 3
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook.</em> Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.
page_number
Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 85
citation
Ilaria Toesca, "La Madonna di S. Maria della Valle a Subiaco" <em>Bollettino d'Arte Anno</em> XLIX (Fascicolo III, Serie IV, 1964).
page_number
p. 223, repr. fig. 9, p. 222
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 41
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Selected Works: Cleveland Museum of Art.</em> 1967.
page_number
p. 3
citation
Volbach, Wolfgang Fritz, and Jacqueline Lafontaine-Dosogne. <em>Byzanz und der christliche Osten. </em>Berlin: Propyläen Verlag, 1968.
page_number
p. 197 Pl. 98
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 41
citation
Frere-Cook, Gervis. A<em>rt and Architecture of Christianity. </em>Cleveland: Press of Case Western Reserve University, 1972.
page_number
Dust jacket
citation
Rademacher, Franz.<em> Die Regina Angelorum in der Kunst des frühen Mittelalters. </em>Düsseldorf: Schwann, 1972.
page_number
p. 256, fig. 1 or p. 55, No. 46
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 43
citation
Musée du Louvre, Réunion des musées nationaux (France), and Bibliothèque nationale (France). <em>Byzance: l'art byzantin dans les collections publiques françaises</em> : Musée du Louvre, 3 novembre 1992-1er février 1993. Paris: Éditions de la Réunion des musées nationaux, 1992.
page_number
Cat. No. 159, p. 246-247
citation
Evans, Helen C., and William D. Wixom. <em>The Glory of Byzantium: Art and Culture of the Middle Byzantine Era, A.D. 843-1261</em>. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1997.
page_number
cat. no. 87, p. 14
citation
Speyer, Festschr W. "Byzantinische Elfenbeine aus Westlichen Wekstatten und ihre Rezeption Im 19. Jahrhundert" <em>Jahrbuch für Antike und Christentum</em>. 28 (June 1998)
page_number
pp. 199-227
citation
Vasilakē, Maria. <em>Mother of God: Representations of the Virgin in Byzantine Art.</em> Milano: Skira, 2000.
page_number
Cat. No. 19, p. 302-03
citation
May, Sally Ruth, Jane Takac, and Barbara J. Bradley. <em>Knockouts: A Pocket Guide. </em>Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2001.
page_number
p. 116
citation
Fisher, Susannah. "The Tabernacle of the Most High: The Florentine Santa Maria Maggiore Madonna". <em>Arte Medievale </em>/ Istituto Della Enciclopedia Italiana. 07/2 (2007)
page_number
pp. 75-85
citation
Eikelmann, Renate, Holger A. Klein, Stephen N. Fliegel, and Virginia Brilliant. T<em>he Cleveland Museum of Art: Meisterwerke von 300 bis 1550.</em> München: Hirmer, 2007.
page_number
p. 76-77, no. 22
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art, and Holger A. Klein. <em>Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007.
page_number
p. 74, cat. no. 19
citation
Schroeder, Rossitza. "Revelations in Relief: An Italo-Byzantine Panel with the Virgin and Child." <em>The Journal of the Walters Art Museum</em> 68/69 (2010)
page_number
p. 112, fig. 4
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art, David Franklin, and C. Griffith Mann. <em>Treasures from the Cleveland Museum of Art. </em>Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2012.
page_number
pp. 80-81
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: P. 259
citation
Corriveau, Bethany. "Yearly Traditions Old and New.” <em>Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine</em> 56, no. 5 (September/October 2016): 29.
page_number
Reproduced and Mentioned: p. 29
citation
Eliot W Rowlands, ‘An indefatigable intermediary’: Harold Woodbury Parsons (1882–1967) and the formation of the European collections at the Cleveland Museum of Art: part 1, <em>Journal of the History of Collections.</em>
page_number
p. 2
citation
Rowlands, Eliot W. "An indefatigable intermediary: Harold Woodbury Parsons (1882-1967) and the formation of the European collections at the Cleveland Museum of Art: part 2." <em>Journal of the History of Collections </em>33, no.1 (2021): 93-109.
page_number
Reproduced p.94, mentioned p. 93-95, 103
creditline
Gift of J. H. Wade
sketchfabId
2b9cc1056e644660a965657bbdb052b5
updatedAt
2026-06-18 21:17:26.886000
sourceId
107310
dept
Medieval Art
coll
MED - Byzantine
med
ivory
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
bd75bfdbb16571e4