Triptych with Crucifixion of Christ and Saints

Preserved in its entirety, the threewinged movable altar (triptych) displays in its closed state a cross decorated with rosettes on a stepped pedestal under a baldachin. When opened, the central panel depicts the crucifixion. Longinus thrusts a lance into the dead Christ’s side while Stephaton holds a pole with the vinegar-soaked sponge to his mouth. In the middle section of the image lamenting women and men gesture urgently on both sides of the cross, led by the Virgin Mary on the left and John on the right. The half-length figures of four angels appear above the cross. Figures of saints are arranged in two registers on the inside of the two wings. On the left wing are the Apostles Thomas and Andrew, below them the Emperor Constantine and his mother Helena, who together hold the true cross. On the right wing, above, are the Apostolic Princes Peter, with the cross over his shoulder, and Paul; underneath them are the Church Fathers Basil and John Chrysostom. Triptychs of precious ivory helped their owners venerate the sacred events recalled by the image, a practice common in Byzantium. The high artistic quality indicates that the owner was from a noble Constantinople family. Very few Byzantine ivory triptychs have survived intact. In the West, where they were probably brought as gifts by visitors or as plundered goods, they were generally dismantled and the individual pieces used to decorate book covers.