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Christ at the Column
(Baroque Europe )
In northern Europe, a taste for luxurious objects combined with the needs of the Catholic Counter Reformation for objects for private devotion resulted in a great demand for ivory statuettes of the Virgin or Christ. The strain put on Christ in this unnatural position-tied to the column-draws attention to his physical body and exposes his vulnerability, expressed through the emphasis on his soft skin, which can be beautifully represented in ivory.
The subtle carving resembles the work of the German sculptor and carver Georg Petel (1601?-ca.1634), who drew inspiration from both German Renaissance and Italian baroque art. In 1624 when Petel was in Antwerp, the Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens commissioned from him several ivories after his own drawings.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
Paris; Henry Walters, Baltimore, [date of acquisition unknown] by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Conservation
| Date | Description | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| 6/16/1982 | Treatment | other |
Geographies
Germany (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 9 13/16 × W: 3 9/16 × D: 2 3/4 in. (25 × 9 × 7 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
71.356