plete
condition and is carved on both the inside and outside faces. The
central plaque, divided into an upper and a lower field, offers in the
upper part the figure of Christ enthroned; on either side of the
elaborate throne stand Saint John and the Virgin; on the lower field
are standing figures of St. James, St. John, St. Peter, St. Paul, and
St. Andrew. The leaves are similarly divided into two fields: that to
the left shows in its upper half St. Theodore Tyron and St. Theodore
the Stratalate; below stand St. Eustrates and St. Arethas; above these
are medallion heads of St. Thomas and St. Mercurius. On the right leaf,
similarly disposed, are figures of St. George and St. Eustache, beneath
which are those of St. Demetrius and St. Procopius, the intermediate
medallions representing St. Philip and St. Pantaleon. This constitutes
what we may call the outside decoration of this richly carved triptych.
On the inside, the central leaf bears a large cross, with the starry
sky above and plants and animals on the soil beneath; the reverses of
the side leaves present images of St. Basil, St. Gregory, St. Nicholas,
St. Severin, St. John Chrysostrom, and St. Clement of Ancyra, and
medallions of St. Phocal, St. Blasius, St. Cosmas, and St. Damien. The
central leaf is 24.2 cm. high and 14.2 cm. wide; the side leaves
measuring 21.7 cm. in height and 7 cm. in width. This work, done in the
tenth century, has both the merits and the defects observable in all
products of Byzantine art, the unquestionable excellence and dignity of
the composition being marred to a certain extent by the stiffness and
rigidity of the figures.*
A
tenth-century book cover in the Hofbibliothek in Vienna is adorned with
an ivory plaque offering a representation of St. Gregory the Great. The
figure, attired in an ancient raiment, falling in stiff folds, is shown
seated on ä throne
*Musée National du Louvre. Catalogue des Ivoires, par Emile Mounier, Paris [1895-96], pp. 31 sqq.
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