71.295: Casket with Scenes from the Fall of Adam and Eve and the Story of Joseph by Anonymous (Byzantine)

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Casket with Scenes from the Fall of Adam and Eve and the Story of Joseph

Date (Period): 10th-11th century (Medieval)

Medium: antler and ivory on wood

Measurements: 7 1/16 x 10 13/16 x 6 11/16 in. (18 x 27.5 x 17 cm)

Description

The front of this casket depicts the Fall of Adam and the Temptation of Eve, flanking the Sorrowing Adam below the lockplate. A fourth plaque on the back of the casket portrays Adam hiding behind a tree and covering his nudity. The large rectangular plaque set into the casket's lid shows the Old Testament patriarch Jacob ordering his son Joseph to follow his brothers, and the Angel of the Lord guiding his way. These Old Testament images must have been intened as moral examples for the box's owner. It was probably used in a private home for the safekeeping of valuables.

Additional Information

Credit Line: Acquired by Henry Walters, 1926

Accession Number: 71.295

Location within Museum: Centre Street: Third Floor: Byzantine, Russian, and Ethiopian Icons

Language: Greek

Culture: Byzantine

Dynasty: Macedonian Dynasty

Place of Origin: Constantinople (present-day Istanbul, Turkey)

Provenance

Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1926, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

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