Ask the Scholar
Document scope · 1 page
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory.
For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.
Source Description
This elaborate, enameled plaque was once attached to the cover of a Gospel book or a lectionary, a manuscript containing passages from the four Gospels arranged to be read throughout the year. At the center, Christ is flanked by the Virgin and St. John. Adam's skull, below, symbolizes the salvation of mankind through Christ's crucifixion on Golgotha, the reputed site of Adam's grave.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
36924
label
Book Cover Plaque
core
obj
dtoType
object
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
36924
sourceUrl
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Book Cover Plaque
description
This elaborate, enameled plaque was once attached to the cover of a Gospel book or a lectionary, a manuscript containing passages from the four Gospels arranged to be read throughout the year. At the center, Christ is flanked by the Virgin and St. John. Adam's skull, below, symbolizes the salvation of mankind through Christ's crucifixion on Golgotha, the reputed site of Adam's grave.
provenance
Frédéric Spitzer, Paris, by purchase; Sale, Paul Chevallier and Charles Mannheim, Paris, April 17, 1893, no. 256; Léguillon, Paris, by purchase; Sale,Hôtel Drouot, Paris, December 9, 1895, no. 7; Heinrich Wencke, Hamburg, by purchase; Sale, J. M. Heberle, Cologne, October 27, 1898, no. 130; Dimitri Schevitch, Madrid, by purchase; Sale, Galerie George Petit, Paris, April 4, 1906, no. 183; Jacques Seligmann, Paris, by purchase; Henry Walters, Baltimore, May 16, 1906, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
13th century (Medieval)
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Enamels
plaques
imageCount
1
pageCount
1
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
31.6
height
20.9
depth
2.5
dimensionsRaw
H: 12 7/16 x W: 8 1/4 x D: 1 in. (31.6 x 20.9 x 2.5 cm)
Source extras
cul
French
style
Gothic
inscriptions
Text in gilded copper on cross above Christ's head: I H S/ X P~S; [Transcription] IH[ESU]S CHR[ISTU]S; [Translation] Jesus Christ. In this inscription
the titulus (the long horizontal mark indicating an abbreviation) has an unusual placement between the P and the S to abbreviate the initials XPS for Christ.
med
champlevé enamel on gilded copper, semiprecious stones
creator_ids
6229
collection_ids
MED
exhibition_ids
664
2289
2963
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
fec429a1cf4f659c