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Ivory Pyx (Box)
500s
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States
Elaborately carved from a section of an elephant’s tusk, this ivory pyx (Greek for "box") depicts a number of New Testament scenes, namely the Annunciation, Christ’s entry into Jerusalem, Christ raising Lazarus, and Christ healing the blind man. It also depicts a Christian altar with chalices, possibly indicating the box’s use in a liturgical context.
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Details
- Title: Ivory Pyx (Box)
- Date Created: 500s
- Physical Dimensions: Diameter: 12.7 cm (5 in.); Overall: 8.5 cm (3 3/8 in.)
- Provenance: the pyx was found in Lyons during the demolition of the Church of Saint-Étienne adjoining the Cathedral of Saint-Jean. Forgotten, hidden, it emerged as the choice object in a family collection in Lyons. According to W. M. Milliken, tradition says that to satisfy a family heritage it was eventually divided into three parts, roughly one third, which was in the collection of M. G. Chalandon (the piece bought in 1951 by the CMA), and the remaining two thirds which went into the Récamier collection, and then into the collection of Claudius Côte (purchased by the CMA in 1952).
- Type: Ivory
- Rights: CC0
- External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1951.114
- Medium: ivory
- Department: Medieval Art
- Culture: Byzantium
- Credit Line: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
- Collection: MED - Byzantine
- Accession Number: 1951.114
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