Shrine

1430/1460

On View

European: Medieval, Level 2, Central Wing

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About the Artwork

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Markings

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Provenance

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Exhibition History

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Published References

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Catalogue Raisonné

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Credit Line for Reproduction

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Audio Transcript

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About the Artwork

The owner of this small shrine with foldable wings made of ivory and bone would have used it to focus their religious devotions, whether at home or when traveling. The central figure of the Virgin Mary holds the infant Jesus; her graceful sway echoes the shape of the elephant tusk from which she was carved. She stands beneath a miniature Gothic canopy complete with an X-shaped groin vault painted to resemble a starry sky, echoing the soaring painted ceilings of medieval churches and — ultimately — the vault of heaven. The hinged wings that enclose the Virgin and Child also retain traces of once-rich paint and gilding. They contain sixteen vignettes with episodes from the Life of the Virgin, as well as musical angels playing instruments like recorders, harps, and a tiny pipe organ. The carver derived these scenes of the Virgin’s life from illustrations in early printed books published in the mid-1400s.

Title Shrine

Artwork Date 1430/1460

Artist ----------

Life Dates ----------

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. Flemish

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. ----------

Medium Elephant ivory, bone, wood, pigment, gold leaf

Dimensions Overall (shrine): 19 inches × 13 3/8 inches × 4 1/4 inches (48.3 × 34 × 10.8 cm) Overall (statuette): 8 1/2 × 2 3/4 × 2 1/8 inches (21.6 × 7 × 5.4 cm) Overall (sockel): 3 inches × 2 5/16 inches × 1 1/16 inches (7.6 × 5.8 × 2.7 cm)

Classification Sculpture

Department European Sculpture and Dec Arts

Credit Founders Society Purchase

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 23.149

Markings

Inscriptions On Base: DME REGINA MISERICORDI [?]ITA DULCED

Provenance

until 1923, (Max Heilbronner, Berlin, Germany);
1923, sold to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

Please note: This section is empty

The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.

Suggest Feedback